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CHAPTER TWO
Two men are sitting in A Living Room, drinking iced cold Tea and talking to one
another as the television plays on unnoticed, when suddenly they hear A Special News
Broadcast announced over the television so they quit talking and listen to the Broadcast.
"We interrupt this program for A Special Newscast!" the voice over the Television
proclaims and then continues. "Today in Moscow an Earthquake measuring higher than six
on the Richter Scale, shook violently in Russia, taking thousands of lives and leaving over
half A million people homeless.
One man said, Quote "it was just like it said it would be in the Bible; the ground just
opened up!". We'll have more on the Twelve O'clock news, now back to the program".
The television returns to A talk show which is just coming on. The talk show host is
Geraldo Rivera, "Today our topic is Satanism, and Family violence. On today's show we
will meet two Children whom slayed their Parents, one shot his Parents to death, the other
stabbed his Parents repeatedly until they were dead. We will also meet Parents whom
killed their own Children, and A young man whom beat his own Brother to Death!. It
reminds me of A part in the Bible which states near the end of the World, 'the Brother shall
deliver the brother to death, the Father the Child, and the Children shall rise up against
their Parents and cause them to be put to death!', (Mark 13:12) now we release these actual
pictures of", the television goes on unnoticed as the two men begin talking to one another.
Randy says to David "Man, I can't believe how crazy People are getting these days!,
murdering their own Families, shooting People in passing cars, it is just sickening!".
"I know what you mean!", David replies, "it is just like it said that it would be in the
Bible!, I haven't been to Church in years, however, I have read the Bible!, but it is so hard
to understand, I mean it talks in riddles and stuff!".
Randy lets out A short laugh and replies to David, "they are not Riddles, they are called
Parables. Take the Fig Tree for instance, the Parable of the Fig Tree is this, just as A tree
that bares no fruit is cut down by A farmer , and cast into the fire to make room for
another tree, so shall those People whom bare no Fruit also be cast into the fire. (Matthew
3:10, 7:19, 13:40- 43, 13:49-50)
In other words, if you live by the Bible, and teach Gods word to others, you bare good
fruit and shall be saved, but those whom live A life of Sin and heed not Gods word, bare
bad fruit or no fruit at all, and those People shall be cast into the fire to burn just as the
farmer would cast A fruitless tree into A fire and dispose of it!.
So you are suppose to live A good life and produce good fruit for God, not just be A
Christian, but A good Christian, whom does not live A life of sin. Your suppose to let
your light shine, so all people will want to be like you, and turn to him also!".
"Oh, I see!" David replies, "that is neat!, now I get it!. I always thought he was just mad
at that stupid tree because he was hungry, and there wasn't any fruit on it.
But like I was saying I have read the Bible, and I think that it is getting close myself, the
end of the World I mean!, some People think that it wont happen for A long time yet!".
"That is not for us to know!", Randy replies, "It says in the Bible that not even the
Angels will know the time of his coming, he will come like A thief in the Night!"
(Matt 24:36). David says "Well, I just hope that I am lucky enough to make it to
Heaven, can you imagine burning in Hell for Eternity?".
"Luck has nothing to do with it my Friend, it is how you live your life that will determine
whether or not you go to Heaven, and how much you believe in and Love God!, and do
his will" Randy replies.
"Well," David exclaims, "I know that I need to get back into Church again!. I mean we
are having Earth Quakes, and Famine all over the world, the Bible predicted this before the
end of the World, also the Bible predicted diseases that would spread rapidly and kill many,
such as A.I.D.S is doing now. It also predicted False Prophets would arise and this has
taken place as well, such as Jim Jones, and David Karesh from Waco, Texas. Then there
is that idiot Charles Manson who claims that he is Christ, and these guys from that one cult
that claimed a flying saucer was going to come and get them, no recently a man in the
desert claims to be an alien who has been in the world for years, and he claims to have
been all of the great men in the world like, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and
others. This guy is out in the desert, and Jesus said in the book of Matthew 24:26
"Wherefore if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold he is
in the inner rooms; believe it not."
"Yes, I agree with you, the days are getting to be like the days of Noah when he said
that the Lord was going to destroy the earth with a great flood, nobody believed Noah,
they just made fun of him and mocked him, but it did come, science today even proves
there was a great flood. Also, the bible says when Christ returns it will be like it was in the
days of Sodom and Gomorrah, there will be all kinds of sex sin, wild parties and
drunkenness, then he will come. Look at these talk shows today with bisexuals,
homosexuals, just all kinds of disgusting things, even people fighting right there on stage,
it's ridiculous, I am sure the end is near.
That is why I am sticking close to God, I do not intend to be left on earth to suffer God's
wrath, speaking of which, you should come to Church with Helen and I Sunday morning!,
see if you like it. The People are very Friendly, and you will meet all kinds of interesting
People.
Besides, Jesus said that 'we can know A joy that runs so deep, no disappointment can
fully squelch it', and if you stop and think about it, Christians are happier than anyone else,
even millionaires" Randy exclaims.
"I think that I will, who knows, maybe I will meet A nice Christian girl there, I am tired
of meeting girls in A bar, you know what I mean?" David replies
"That is A good idea! You know that if you do meet A Woman from Church, she wont
want to argue with you all of the time, she would probably be kind, understanding, and
easier to get along with than Lisa was!" Randy replies with A slight chuckle, and continues
to talk , "However, the Bible says, first seek ye the kingdom of God and all it's
righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you! (Matt 6:33).
So when you stop hanging around with People whom drink and Party all of the time and
start hanging around with People from the Church, you will immediately find an
overwhelming abundance of joy, happiness, and also self respect!".
David replies, "That is A great idea!, I mean, I don't think that I could feel any lower than
I do now, and besides that, I do need God back in my Life. I used to be so happy when I
was going to Church!. I will come over Sunday morning, we could have A cup of Coffee
and then I will go to Church with you and Helen!".
"O.K. , your on!", Randy replies happily. Then A puzzled look comes over David's
face, and he asks, "Let me ask you A dumb question though!" he asks in A hesitant tone of
voice. "Someone asked me the other day how I knew for A fact that God does exist, and I
hate to admit it but I was short on words. How do you know for A fact that God does
exist?".
"Well, you have to reach deep down into your Heart and Soul and search for an answer"
David replies with A smile, then continues , "for instance, I myself have had experiences in
life that I believe in my heart , mind, and soul were the lords devine intervention. For
instance, years ago I was like you, I drank and partied until finally I got A D.U.I , and
instead of learning my lesson, I just kept on going to bars, and drinking and driving, like
you do now!.
I was lonely, and looking for A woman, anyway, A few months later I had A dream, it
was so real that it scared me half to death!. I dreamed that I was leaving A bar drunk
again, and I was pulled over by A sheriff on Patrol that night, and they handcuffed me and
took me to Jail. I was crying and scared to death that I would never get out!.
I was younger then, about nineteen years old, so I was living with my Parents. My
Parents were very much against my drinking, so I did not tell them about my dream the
next morning , even though it seemed so real, I had A great urge to tell them.
Anyway's, two days later my Mother came to me and told me that I had better watch
myself and quit drinking, because she had A dream that I was arrested for A D.U.I again,
and if I got another D.U.I, I would lose my license, and I was A truck driver.
Now that made two dreams, mine and that of my Mothers.
Well, I quit drinking for A couple of weeks, which back then was quite an
accomplishment, because I was drinking every single day until then. Anyway's, about nine
days after my dream, and seven days after my Mother had the same Dream, I went with
my Brother to A bar, we stayed there until the Bar closed at about one forty five in the
Morning. We were invited to some girls house from the Bar, for A Party, we must have
wrote the address down wrong or something, because we could not find the street that the
Party was on.
Anyway's, to make A long story short, I was pulled over by A Sheriffs Patrol car, and he
seen that I had been drinking, but he gave me A chance and told me to park my truck, and
told us to walk home. Well, being drunk, I pretended to start walking home, with my
Brother, and after the Sheriff passed us, I turned around and went back for my truck, even
though my Brother refused to go with me. The Sheriff officer must have known my
intentions , because after I got back in my truck, and took off, he stopped me, and
handcuffed me and took me to jail!, so now I had A second D.U.I and lost my Job as
well!.
You see, the Lord tried to warn me in two separate dreams, that of mine, and also in my
Mothers dream. He even used his influence to urge the Officer to give me another chance,
which the Officer did, so this was my third warning from the Lord, but I was still stubborn
and refused to quit drinking, even for one night, so I paid dearly for my mistakes!
You see, the Lord is watching over all of us, he is even with us Sinners, he does not want
to see us hurt, or led astray, so he does his best to help us do what is right. However, if we
do not listen to him, then we will pay the price. If we let Satan be our master, then God
will truly hand us over to him.
Another time that the Lord was with me is this...
I was about sixteen years old, and I was living in Bakersfield, California with my Mother
and my Stepdad, when my older brother received news from A local hospital that he had A
brain tumor, and would only live another six months to A year. So, in finding this out, he
made arrangements to go visit our real dad, whom we hadn't seen since I was about ten
years old.
I agreed to move up to Moses Lake, Washington with my Brother, to live with our real
dad for A few months. Our real Dad left us when I was three years old, and I hadn't seen
him since then, except once.
Well, my Brother must have went off the deep end knowing that he was going to die,
because he and my dad were not getting along very well, so he and A friend that he had
met up there, stole A car and took it out of state, to Las Vegas, Nevada.
My brother was caught, and arrested for Grand Theft Auto, and transported back to
Spokane Washington to stand trial. After serving about three months in jail, he was
released.
When they released my Brother, he was in A city about Forty Miles from Moses Lake,
he was being held in a jail in Spokane Washington, and he did not have a way to get back
to Moses Lake Washington, so he called my Mother collect, in Bakersfield, California and
asked her to call me and have me come pick him up.
She told him that the last she heard my car was broke down, and even if it did run, she
was not sure that my real dad would let me go get him, and she told him that my real dad
did not want him moving back into his House.
He became worried, and told my mom that if I was not there in one hour to pick him up,
he would start hitchhiking to California. When my Mother called me I explained to my
Mother that my Car was still broke down, and I had no way to go pick him up.
My Mother began to cry, she said that she had no way to let him know, because he was
not going to call her back. I promised my Mother that I would try to get one of the
neighbors to take me, but told her that I hardly knew anyone there in that city.
I tried desperately to find A ride for A half hour, but to no avail, so I called my Mother
back and told her that I could not find anyone to take me to pick him up, and I explained to
her that our new found family was not very worried either, so I told my Mother that I
would start hitchhiking up there to get him, so that at least, he would not be alone.
She told me that he had just called back, and she let him know that my car was not
working, and that I might not be able to go and get him, she said that he was upset, and he
was so frightened that he was crying, because he had nowhere to go, except to Bakersfield,
California, which was A two day drive if you had A car, much less walking.
He was frightened, and alone, nobody had any money to even send him home on A bus,
so he told her that if he did not see me in one hour, he would start hitchhiking to
California.
California is A long ways to hitchhike, and I was frightened for him, because I was
always A strong willed person, A survivor if you will, and pretty street smart as well, but
my brother was always A shy, quiet person, and I knew in my heart that he would never
make it to California, plus it was freezing cold outside, because it was in the middle of
winter, so I feared that he would end up dead somewhere along the way.
I knew that it was about forty miles to the city where my brother was released, and in my
heart, I knew that I could not make it in twenty minutes unless someone stopped and gave
me A ride on the way, so I made it to the Freeway, and walked backwards, as I put my
thumb out for A ride.
I walked and hitchhiked for almost three hours, as I continually grew more frightened for
my Brother, all that I could think about was him on the road, with no money for food, it
was stone cold winter, and I knew that he did not even have A jacket to keep him warm at
night. I thought about him hitchhiking for days, sleeping on the cold wet grass.
A little while later, I finally got A ride into town, and then I walked to the Jail as fast as I
could. I looked everywhere for my Brother, but I could not find him. Then I went inside
the Jail and asked about him, the clerk said that he left hours ago.
I barely made it back outside before the tears began rolling down my cold, white cheeks,
though I was not embarrassed A bit as People stared at me. One person even asked me if
I was all right, and whether or not he could help me, and I asked him if he seen anyone
matching the description of my Brother.
I looked everywhere outside the Jail, and even in A Park, which was directly behind the
jail. I then walked all over town, and came back to the jail, still searching for him, even
though in my mind I knew that he must have given up on me hours ago, and left on his
quest to hitchhike all of the way to California.
I finally gave up my search and began to walk through town once again, only this time I
was on my way home . I headed back to the Freeway, and I was almost there when A
child asked me if I wanted A puppy, he said that he found it and his mother would not let
him keep it, and he was worried about it, he did not want to set the puppy out on the street
again in the cold.
I took that puppy and held it, as I noticed that he looked exactly like my favorite dog,
Charlie, which had died years ago. I accepted the Puppy, and held it close to me as I
continued walking. I could not get over the fact that this puppy looked exactly like Charlie
Brown, my other dog.
I felt in my heart that the Lord must have sent me this puppy, to comfort me. I held the
Puppy tight, and thought of the poor thing being all alone on those streets by himself, as
once again tears flowed out of my tear ducts and down my cold cheeks, because that made
me also think of my brother being alone, hungry, and cold.
I cried so hard that I soaked that cute little Puppy with my tears. The Puppy licked me as
if knowing the pain that I was in. I felt like the World had fallen out from under me, and
now my Brothers life lay in jeopardy because I had put off fixing my car the day before.
I was to the Freeway by now and then I decided to go back one last time, because
thinking of that puppy all alone on the streets, made me want to look once again for my
Brother. So I turned around and walked back through the town again, and back to the
Jailhouse. My feet were tired, my shirt was soaking wet from tears, as was my new Puppy,
that I named Charlie Brown the second.
Again I gazed my eyes through the Park, and walked through the town, but found
nothing, and again I gave up my search and began to walk through the town to the
freeway, and as I walked I raised my hands over the Puppy, and put them to my mouth,
and then pressed them together in prayer, as tears still flowed from this never ending
stream of hopelessness.
I prayed to the Lord and begged him to take good care of my Brother, I told the Lord
that my Brother was A quiet person, and could never make it on his own. I told the Lord,
to hitchhike that far, A person would have to be strong, and relate to others well, neither
of which qualities my Brother had.
People walked by staring at me as if I were crazy or something, yet I prayed on, as I
walked. As I said AMEN, I lowered my hands, and raised my head, only to realize that in
the time that I was praying, I had somehow went in A circle and was almost at the Park
again. As I wiped the tears from my eyes, I seen my Brother under A tree in the Park
reading A Bible.
I never have, and probably never will again feel the Joy, and relief that I felt at that
moment. Again I wiped tears from my eyes as I walked up to my Brother, whom not even
knowing I was there, was looking down, and reading his Bible in tears.
Then, on the way to the freeway I apologized to him for taking so long, I told him that I
almost never got A ride to town. As we walked to the freeway, I had just finished telling
him how God must have turned me around, because I thought this time that I was heading
back home, and after Praying, I looked up only to see him.
As soon as we entered the freeway, and began hitchhiking, A man pulled over and
offered us A ride home, saying that it was getting too dark for us to be hitchhiking, and on
the way back to Moses Lake, I learned that this man was A Christian.
So my answer to your question David is, YES there is A God!. He has done many
wonderful things for me in my lifetime, he is even watching us now!, and he knows our
heartaches and our pains, and he joins us in the glory of our triumphs. Even when we are
too blind to see that it was him that made possible that triumph, for he lifted me and carried
me to my Brother, as I prayed to him.
People are too ready to dismiss these things as A coincidence, but when I put all of these
things together, I feel the Love and Joy of God, and I know that he is there and watching
over us, even those whom have gone astray. For it even says in the Bible, "It is not his
will that one soul should perish!"( II Peter 3:9)
"Wow, that is touching!", David replies, "I have had that feeling before, as if someone is
there watching over me, its hard to explain, but I have known it, and felt the Love inside,
and I can tell you, I know how you have felt, because I have felt that tremendous joy inside
me before, a joy so great that nothing could be compared to it, its just that it is hard to
believe in something that you can not see".
"Let me show you something!" Randy exclaims as he gets out of his chair, walks over to
the China Hutch, and gets A deck of cards. He then walks back over to where David is
and kneels on the Carpet beside his chair. Randy opens the box that holds the deck of
cards and then hands them to David and says, "Shuffle these all you want and then hand
them to me".
David shuffles the cards real good, and then hands them back to Randy.
Randy calls outloud to his wife, "Helen, come here A minute please!", and she comes into
the room, then Randy tells her to sit beside David as A witness to the card trick, that way
nobody could cheat, or argue over the card.
Randy holds the deck of cards in both hands, the cards facing both Helen and David, and
he slowly fans through them, one at A time and says to David, "As I fan through these
cards, I want you to look until you see one that you want to remember, and then do not tell
me what the card is, I will pass it up. But I want you to point to it so that Helen can see
what it is, that way you can't lie and say it is not your card!"
David exclaims with A smile, "Oh man, do you really think that I would cheat ?!?".
Randy replies, "yep!", then Randy fans the cards and David reaches his arm out and
points to A card as Randy passes it up. "Did you see the card?", David asks Helen. "yes, I
seen it!" she replies.
Randy goes through A few more cards and then stops and slaps the top of the deck of
cards and says, "O.K., your card was somewhere in the middle, but now it is on the bottom
of the deck!".
Randy raises the deck of cards up showing them the bottom card, then states in an
excited tone of voice, "this is your card right?". David gives out A short laugh, then
replies, "no, ha! ha!, you messed the card trick up!".
Randy looks at Helen and asks, "This isn't the card?". Helen replies, "no sweetheart, it
isn't!".
Randy then sets that card face down on the coffee table in front of them, and says,
"Now, you guy's are sure that was not your card?". They both say, "we are positive!".
Then Randy slaps the deck again and then he takes the top card and shows them, and
states, "This is this your card on the top!, right?" Randy asks hesitantly. David chuckles
and replies, "Nope!".
Randy replies "Are you sure?", and David replies, "Yes, I am positive!".
Randy sets that card face down on the first card which is on the coffee table in front of
David and Helen, he then slaps the deck of cards again and takes A card out of the middle
of the deck, showing it to David and Helen.
"Then this must be it here in the middle!". Randy exclaims. "No, your still wrong!",
David replies with another slight chuckle. Randy then asks, "are you Positive?", and David
replies, "yes, I know for A fact that it is not my card!". Randy then lays the Third card
face down on top of the first and second card, he then says, "now watch carefully!, I will
slap the deck of cards three times, and then the card will be on top of the deck!".
Randy then slaps the deck of cards three times, and pulls A card off of the top of the
deck and exclaims, "then this has to be it, the card worked its way up to the top of the
deck!". He shows it to David, who then replies, "nope, wrong again!".
Randy then lays the Fourth card face down on top of the first, second and third card,
which is still on the coffee table face down, and slaps the deck again, and then he pulls A
card off of the bottom of the deck and exclaims, "O.K., now I know for A fact that this is
the card, right?!" he exclaims in A hesitant tone of voice as he shows David the card, and
sets the rest of the deck down on the coffee table, opposite of the cards he already showed
David and Helen.
David then exclaims, "Nope, ha! ha!, you messed up!, none of those cards were it!"
Randy then picks the other four cards up and puts the card David and Helen just seen on
top of the other four , and holds them in front of them and exclaims, "Are you sure none
of these five cards were yours?".
"Positive!" David exclaims. Randy then looks at his Wife Helen and exclaims, "you guys
are lying to me huh?!?", and Helen replies, "No honey, I swear to you that none of the five
cards in your hand are the card, it was an Ace of Hearts".
Randy then says to David, "O.K., make A fist". David makes A fist, then Randy places
the five cards face up between his index finger and his middle finger, and then slaps the
cards. All of the cards fall to the floor except for one, which sticks to his fingers, it is the
Ace of Hearts.
David's eyes widen in amazement as his exclaims, "Hey!, that's my card!, how did you do
that?".
"I made it appear out of thin air!", Randy exclaims.
"No you didn't!", David replies, "You are good, but not that good!. Nothing just appears
out of thin air!. You put it there!, I just didn't see you!".
"Exactly!", Randy replies, "You did not see me put it there, but you know that I must
have!, even though you did not see, you believe!".
"Yes, that's right!" David replies in A confused tone of voice.
Then Randy says, "Now, do you think that the Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, and all of the
creatures made so perfectly just appeared out of thin air?, or like the card, somebody put
them here?".
"I see your point now!", David exclaims with an enlightened smile, "that was good!, I like
the way that you made your point!".
Then Randy explains, "I know for A fact that God does exist, all of the Animals, and
different races of human beings did not just wash up on shore one sunny day!. And he is A
kind God, and A loving God whom wants nothing but the best for us, but we have to want
it ourselves!. If God just came to earth and sat on A throne, and showed us his Powers,
then People would only follow him out of fear, like A King, but I believe that God wants
us to follow him because we Love him not Fear him!".
"O.K., but I have lived A life of sin in the last few years!, how do I know that he will
forgive me?, an ex-drug addict, and Alcoholic?" David asks.
Randy replies, "Well, first of all, Jesus told A sinner, who was hanging on A cross right
next to him, "Today, you will join me in paradise", (Luke 23:43), so if he forgave that
man, why wouldn't he forgive you?, also, you probably did not know this, but Paul, one of
Jesus's Apostles, went around arresting and murdering Christians, but Jesus forgave him
and offered him A new Life!, and he of course took it with open arms. If you are willing to
start all over and live by his word, he will forgive you as well!.
Then, too, it says in Romans 3:22 "And we all can be saved in this same way, by
coming to Christ, no matter whom we are or what we have been like".
Lets not forget that in Matthew 19:12-13 the New Testament reads, "They that be whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick. For I am not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance."
Also, you are A computer programmer, and the other day you told me that you finally
fixed that program that you made. You spent months on it trying to get the bugs out of it,
right?"
"Yes, that's right!".
"All right then. You could just as well have given up on it, but you kept working on it,
over and over again until you got all of the bugs out of it. You see, when A computer
programmer makes A program and finds that it does not work right, he does not throw the
entire program out and waste all of that hard work!, instead he tries to take all of the bugs
out of it. He slowly but surely works through the program, and removes one problem at a
time, until the program works right. Now, if we will be that patient with A program that
we made, why wouldn't God be just as patient with us?".
"That's true!", he replies with A look of deep thought.
Then Randy continues talking, "And speaking of Paul, that is another reason that I know
for A fact that God does exist. You see, Paul became an important disciple for the lord,
and do you think for one moment that if God did not really exist that Paul would have
went through the things that he did for the Lord?. I mean he was severely beaten with rods
and other items including fists, he was kicked, whipped, stoned, and jailed, and faced death
continually as well as many other unimaginable sufferings. Do you think that he would
have gone through all of that for nothing?. Of course not!, the Lord really did speak to
him, and therefore he knew beyond A doubt that the Lord exists.
"May I ask what you two are talking about?", Helen asks in A confused tone of voice.
"I was just trying to communicate to David how come I believe that God does exist!".
Helen then replies, "Well, if you ask me, there is no way that any scientist can convince
me that A human being, with A perfect body, could have just appeared one day.
I mean, think about it, we have eyes to see, ears to hear, A nose, in fact A big one in
Randy's case" Helen exclaims with A smile as she points to Randy's nose.
Randy shrugs his head and replies with a smirk on his face "Ha! Ha!, very funny!".
Then Helen continues, "Just think about it, we have kidneys to filter our fluids, A liver to
clean our blood, I mean the Human body is too perfect not to have been made by A
greater being!, and then there are all of these beautiful animals and creatures all over the
World, and they are perfect as well. There are animals that change their color to blend in
with the background, porcupines have quills for protection, I mean it is all too perfect to be
coincidence.
Look around you some time a notice the perfection of everything, and tell me there is no
God. Watch one of these television programs like Wild Kingdom, and you will see all of
the different qualities and gifts that God gave each creature.
There is no way that all of this came along one day by coincidence, I mean, you might be
able to convince me that one did, but not all of them. I was watching A television show
yesterday, and the narrator said that all of us evolved from one ape like creature. O.K.,
now think about that. Suppose one day, by coincidence, A hairy ape like creature just
happened along somehow. The odds of that happening must be A zillion-zillion to one.
Now, how did that one creature have babies? Not by himself, I assure you".
"That is A very good point!" David exclaims with a smile "but A friend of mine doesn't
believe in life after death, what would you tell him?"
"Well, the Bible explains this best in first Corinthians 15:36-41, it says, - What A foolish
question! you will find the answer in your own garden! When you put A seed into the
ground it doesn't grow into A plant unless it "dies" first.
So, you see, A seed is all dried up, and basically dead when you put it into the ground,
but then it blossoms into A beautiful flower."
"That is amazing, I never realized that the Bible told everything so well. I have always
hated to read, and so I read very little of the Bible, but now I am going to start reading A
little bit every day until I finish the whole thing" David replies.
Then Helen says "You must also realize that not reading the Bible is no excuse for sin,
because God has put the knowledge of right and wrong in all of us". Helen then picks up
her Bible, opens it, and begins to read. "The Bible says in Romans 1:18-22, But God
shows his anger from Heaven against all sinful, evil men whom push away the truth from
them. For the truth about God is known to them instinctively, God has put this knowledge
in their hearts. Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all that God made,
and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse
when they stand before God at judgment day. Yes, they knew about him all right, but they
would not admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care.
And after awhile they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. Claiming themselves to be wise without God,
they became utter fools instead".
"Well," David exclaims, "that pretty well describes me. I guess that my biggest downfall
is that I love to drink, but I know people who go to Church and drink, is that bad?"
Randy turns his Bible to Jude 1:4, and says, "Well, listen to this, and you decide", he
exclaims as he begins to read from the Bible, -- I say this because some Godless teachers
have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do
just as we like without the fear of God's punishment. The fate of such people was written
long ago, for they have turned against our only master and lord, Jesus Christ. My answer
to them is: remember the fact--which you know already-- that the lord saved A whole
nation of people out of the land of Egypt, and then killed every one of them whom did not
trust and obey him. And I remind you of those Angels whom were once pure and holy,
but willingly turned to A life of sin. Now God has them chained up in prisons of darkness,
waiting for the Judgment day. And do not forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and
their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind including lust of men for other men.
Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be A warning to us that there is A hell
in which sinners are punished. Yet these false teachers go on living their evil, immoral lives,
degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them, even scoffing at the
glorious ones.
Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the Angels, when he was arguing with Satan about
Moses's body, did not dare to accuse Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, "The Lord
rebuke you". But these men mock and curse anything that they do not understand, and,
like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls. Woe upon them!
For they follow the example of Cain whom killed his brother; and, like Balaam, they will
do anything for money; and like Korah, they have disobeyed God in the hope of gain and
will die under his curse.
When these men join you at the love feasts of the church, they are evil smears among you,
laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves without A thought for others.
They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much, but
producing nothing. They are like fruit trees without any fruit at picking time. They are not
only dead, but double dead, for they have been pulled out, roots and all, to be burned. All
they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty foam left along the beach by
the wild waves. They wander around looking bright as stars, but ahead of them is the
everlasting gloom of darkness that God has prepared for them.
Enoch, whom lived long ago, soon after Adam, knew about these men and said this
about them: "see, the lord is coming with millions of his holy ones. He will bring the people
of the world before him in judgment, to receive just punishment, and to prove the terrible
things they have done in rebellion against God, revealing all that they have said against
him". These men are constant gripers, never satisfied, doing whatever evil they feel like;
they are loud mouthed show-offs, and when they show respect for others, it is only to get
something from them in return.
Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our lord Jesus Christ told you, that in the last
times there would come these scoffers whose whole purpose in life is to enjoy themselves
in every evil way imaginable. They stir up arguments; they love the evil things of this
world; they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them".
"Wow, that is heavy, I guess I had better get my act together, before it is too late!",
David exclaims.
"That's right!", Randy replies, "And I feel sorry for the so-called Christians that you
know who drink and tell others that it is all right to be A Christian and drink, because in
Matthew 18:7 the Bible says, - Woe upon the world for all it's evils. Temptation to do
wrong is inevitable, but woe to the man whom does the tempting.
So, you see, alot of people think that they are safe, when indeed they are lost. Also,
in I John 5:18 the Bible clearly tells about these so-called Christians, it says - No one
whom has become part of God's family makes A practice of sinning, for Christ, God's son,
holds him securely and the devil cannot get his hands on him. We know that we are
children of God and that all the rest of the world around us is under Satan's power and
control.
Then, again, in I John 2:3-6, John tells us how we should live as A Christian, it says -
And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By looking within ourselves: are we
really trying to do what he wants us to? Someone may say, "I am A Christian; I am on my
way to Heaven; I belong to Christ". But if he doesn't do what Christ tells him to, he is A
liar".
And last, but not least, it says in I John 2-15 "Stop loving this evil world and all that it
offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; for
all of these worldly things, these evil desires - the craze for sex, the ambition to buy
everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance -
these are not from God. They are of this evil world itself".
"O.K., that all makes sense, but why would God allow all of this sin in the first place and
allow people to be hurt?" David asks
"Well David, you must realize that God gave Adam and Eve everything that they would
ever need!, they lived in A beautiful garden, A paradise if you will. They had animals to
run with, fruit trees with an overabundance of fruit, everlasting life and good health. But,
then Satan came along and told them that they did not need God, and that if they ate the
fruit of the tree of they would be like Gods themselves and know all that there is to know.
God had warned them not to eat any fruit from the tree of knowledge, or they would surely
die.
So, when they ate of the fruit of knowledge they brought death into this World. That is
why Jesus came and died for our sins, so that we could still have everlasting life if we
believe in him, and live A good life.
God could have kept Satan out of the garden of Eden, had he wanted to. But, he did not
want man to be like robots, obeying him because that was all they knew. He wanted to
give them A mind, and give them the opportunity to follow him out of love, and faith.
However, in Romans 1:21, Paul explains everything real well, and this will answer almost
all of your questions, it reads "Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn't admit
it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after awhile they began to
think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was
that their foolish minds became dark and confused. Claiming themselves to be wise
without God, they became utter fools instead. And then, instead of worshipping the
glorious, ever-living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves,
carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny men.
So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do whatever they wanted to.
Yes, vile and sinful things with each others bodies. Instead of believing what they knew
was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies.
So they prayed to the things that God made, but wouldn't obey the blessed God whom
made these things. That is why God let go of them and let them do all of these evil things,
so that even their women turned against God's natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin
with each other. And the men, instead of having A normal sex relationship with women,
burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as A
result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved.
So it was that when they gave up God and would not even acknowledge him, that God
gave them up to do everything that their evil minds could think of to do. Their lives
became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting,
lying, bitterness, and gossip.
They were backbiters, haters of God, Insolent, proud braggarts, always thinking of new
ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents.
They were confused fools whom broke their promises and were heartless, without pity.
They were fully aware of Gods death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead
and did them anyway, and encouraged others to do them too.
Well, you may be saying, "what terrible people you have been talking about!"
But wait A minute! you are just as bad. When you say they are wicked and should be
punished, you are talking about yourselves, for you do these very same things.
And we know that God, in justice, will punish anyone whom does such things as these.
Do you think that God will judge and condemn others for doing them and overlook you
when you do them too?
Don't you realize how patient he is being with you? or don't you care?
Can't you see that he has been waiting all of this time without punishing you, to give you
time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
But no, you won't listen; and so you are saving up terrible punishment for yourselves
because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin; for there is going to come
A day of wrath when God will be the just judge of all the world.
He will give each one what his deeds deserve.
He will give eternal life to those whom patiently do the will of God, seeking for the
unseen glory and honor and eternal life that he offers.
But he will terribly punish those whom fight against the truth of God and walk in evil
ways, God's anger will be poured out upon them. There will be sorrow and suffering for
the Jews and gentiles alike whom keep on sinning"
Keep in mind that, here, it is talking about Jew's and Gentiles. A gentile is anyone other
than A Jew. Some people think that he only came to save the Jew's, but it says in the Bible
time and time again, that he came to save the gentiles too!. Listen as I keep on reading,
"But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all whom obey him, whether
they are Jew's or gentiles. For God treats everyone the same.
He will punish sin wherever it is found. He will punish the heathen when they sin, even
though they never had God's written laws, for down in their hearts they knew right from
wrong. God's laws are written within them; their own conscience accuses them, or
sometimes excuses them. And God will punish the Jews for sinning because they have his
written laws but don't obey them. They know what is right but don't do it. After all,
salvation is not given to those whom know what to do, unless they do it.
The day will surely come when at God's command Jesus Christ will judge the secret lives
of everyone, their inmost thought's and motives; this is all part of God's great plan which I
proclaim.
So you see David, that man has brought all of these wicked and vile things into the
World by his very own actions. They did not want God, but wanted to do the evil, sinful
things of this world, so God let man have it his way. So now it is up to each of us to trust
and obey him and save our own souls. If we will trust and obey him, and keep the Faith,
then he will protect us from the evil of this world. Sometimes everything will be going
wrong, but I will pray to him, again and again, and he will eventually step in and stop
Satan".
"Wow!," David exclaims, "I noticed that you said men burned with lust for each other,
and I have A friend who is gay. I guess he had better change his ways. I never realized that
the Bible spoke of so many important issues".
"Well, I'll tell you something that you might want to relay to this friend of yours. First of
all, he may not be A religious man, and perhaps he doesn't realize that sleeping with
another man is wrong. I mean, society today seems to almost accept it as A normal part of
life, but they are wrong, dead wrong! It reads in Leviticus 20:13 "if A man also lie with
mankind, as he lieth with A woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they
shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them".
And then in I Corinthians 6: 9-10 it says, "Don't fool yourselves. Those whom live immoral
lives, whom are idol worshippers, adulterers or Homosexuals - will have no share in his
Kingdom" The Bible even speaks against cross-dressing, in Dueteronomy 22:5 it reads
"The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto A man, neither shall A man put on
A womans garment: for all that do so are an abomination unto the LORD thy God."
"I have Just two more questions, why hasn't he came yet?, and why all the fighting in
Jerusalem if it is the Holy place?", David asks
"Well, he hasn't come yet because he is being patient, to save as many as possible, and
the reason for all the fighting in Jerusalem can be found in Luke 19:41, it reads
"but as they came closer to Jerusalem and he saw the city ahead, he began to cry".
then Jesus said, "eternal peace was within your reach and you turned it down" then Jesus
wept and said "and now it is too late!. Your enemies will pile up earth against your walls
and encircle you and close in on you, and crush you to the ground, and your children
within you; your enemies will not leave one stone upon another, for you have rejected the
opportunity that God offered you".
"Why don't you go to Church with us Sunday ?", Helen asks.
David replies, "Thanks, I think that I will join you guys for Church services Sunday!. who
knows, perhaps the good Lord will help me find A job if I get back into Church!"
Then Helen replies with A smile "I believe that the Lord would help you find work, if
you trusted in him. First of all, A Christian is easy to spot, by the way that they let their
light shine, the way that they act, and present themselves! That alone would be of help,
but remember that the Lord always wants the best for us all.
He wants us to work and lead productive lives, in fact, in the new testament Paul urges
Christians to be good workers, and to stop being lazy and wild. He says to do everything
you do as good as you possibly can. And remember that Paul labored not only for himself,
but for others as well, and he did all of this on top of being an Apostle. Also, you must
remember that an idle mind is a dangerous thing!, and if you are bored Satan will give you
something to do. So it is best to work, this keeps you out of trouble!"
"Well, I will go to your Church and see what I think, after all, what can I lose?", he
replies with A smile. for great deals!
Click here for chapter three---->
