Dear friends - Anita and I enjoyed very much our meeting at the Club on Wednesday. It was great to learn about your background and experiences. You are truly a wonderful couple. I took this as a learning experience as never before had I been exposed to the depth of feeling that some Jewish people have. The following is noted to emphasize how little I learned about Jewish beliefs even though spending much time with Jews, compared with one evening with you two. We truly have had and still have Jewish friends. We even went to Boston for a wedding reception for the daughter of Rene and Henry Green. We attended one dinner at Manny and Ethyl Fox’s, I believe it was to celebrate Pentecost. Also I spent a week with Manny at a fishing lodge in Quebec. We have been to kosher meals with other Jewish friends, including Anna Cohen. Many of my golf and tennis partners are Jewish. Until the last two years though, I never shared any religious beliefs with a single soul. I know, you just wish I had kept to that practice.
Helen, you expressed many thoughts and posed many questions about religious beliefs as did Sid. I spoke a little about your questions but preferred to learn as much as I could about your thinking. Thank you for the time. In spite of the fact that I was the target of the protest against the “Commentary”, it was an enjoyable evening for me and Anita as well. I am both prepared to defend my faith and to listen to other views. It is important for me to understand how diverse the views are even in our little community. I have to tell you that your beautiful presentation was a shock to me in several ways. I realize that my beliefs are only held by a minority of the people in the world. Even though millions of Christians do exist, we are a minority and may always be. The Islamic religion is the fastest growing one and its adherents are dedicated to populating as rapidly as possible. This would not be as much a threat except for their minority of extremist who are vocal and powerful. Actually Islamic religion has many similarities to Christian beliefs. However they do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, or that He was resurrected.
Although I only recently accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, most of my life I have believed in our God in Heaven. He was not important to me though, even though I often offered thanks for our good life and health. I did not appeal to Him for a better life or for anything really. I always thought that I was responsible for whatever fortune was to be. The story of how I came to Jesus is in a letter written over two years ago. A copy will be given to you. Since then though, Jesus has been an important part of my life. I value nothing over my love for Him. I would do anything He asks. Saying this though, Anita and I continue to lead a happy life with few real cares. Those we do have are for her health and for our kids and granddaughters. Our oldest son discovered he had type II diabetes several months back. Before seeking treatment his feet were ravished. The feet have largely healed and he started back to work this week; but it was a trying period. I never realized before that diabetes can actually kill, and fairly quickly. Several of the men I golfed with had the disease, but they had it in check and lived a normal life. Thus I did not know how bad it could be.
With your indulgence I would like to try to answer some of your questions. Please forgive me if something is mentioned here that you already know better than I. Undoubtedly you know a lot more about various religions than I do, but my studies have been extensive during the last two years. Now these are my views and I fully realize that you and most of the world do not agree. In part this will be a review of what I believe, what the beliefs are based on, and why I believe.
One of the things you brought up was, if there is a God, why does he allow so much suffering by innocent people? This has been asked by everyone who has considered the subject of God or no god. We haven’t been given the whole answer, but much information has been revealed in the Bible. The total question is: either God does not exist, or he is uncaring, or he is not powerful enough. The answer is that He is both all-powerful and all-caring. God does not create evil. He created a perfect world and created man to live a perfect life of devotion to Him. God is concerned about every living thing on this earth. He does have the power, and this will be shown again sometime in the near future. When He created the human race, He gave humans the ability to choose their own course, He did not create robots. If a person wants to kill someone else because they don’t agree, or whatever reason, God will not stop that from happening.
According to the Old Testament and history, He has stepped in many times to punish mankind for evil. From the beginning if you believe the Genesis story, man rebelled against God. God would tolerate this for awhile but eventually He would punish man. We can cite the flood of Noah’s time, when God warned the people for 120 years through His prophets that the earth would be flooded. They ignored Him. When He does step in He doesn’t mess around. Now I believe that He is overdue for this generation and will take action soon. That is why I wrote the article. Before He comes I hope as many will be saved as is possible. This is why I have worked to try to bring the message of salvation to everyone that I possible can. I know this falls on deaf ears and is most often resented and largely rejected. However a Christian person is given the obligation to spread this message. I don’t care what scorn is heaped on me because of this. I do care when someone else is injured because of my actions. I also am concerned about the feelings of those who take this as an affront or a threat to their own beliefs.
You said that there are many versions of the Bible in print which is of course true. Of those that have world-wide acceptance such as the King James Version and the New International Version, there are differences in the language, but no real difference in the messages. The NIV version was a complete rewrite by a large group of scholars. The NIV was translated from original documents by hundreds of scholars. They used all available records and did exhaustive research aided by computers to compare text and to produce what is widely accepted as the most accurate Bible.
Another of your comments: Isn’t the Bible inaccurate? This question has been raised by many and still crops up. When asked what discrepancies have they detected, there is often just silence. There are some apparent slight differences in the writings in the gospel, the first four books of the New Testament. These have been commented on and researched. These minor differences are due to the different purposes that the writers were aiming for and their different audiences. For example, Luke a Greek physician and historian directed his message to the Greek gentiles. Other gospel writers were directing their message to the Jews.
Legions of people have challenged the validity of the Bible and the facts about Jesus. Lee Strobel was an atheist who challenged the concept of there being a God. He was an award-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune, and has a Masters of Studies in Law degree from Yale. He wanted to write a story to prove that God did not really exist so he undertook exhaustive research, probing with bulldog-like tenacity the evidence of the truth of biblical Christianity. He is now a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago. He was so convinced that there is overwhelming evidence of God’s existence, that he was converted. His books, one of which is “The Case for Christ” is well worth reading. When I read it I was already convinced about Jesus but was curious as to how Lee went about his investigation. Of course no matter who writes about God there will be critics out to disprove it.
Many other agnostics, non-believers, and outright atheists have had a similar experience in trying to prove that the Bible is not an accurate historical record, or to disprove God, and ended as believers. I have read that many who seriously investigated the case for Christ were converted. The problem is that the vast majority in the world doesn’t want to be convinced, they are happy with their own world and don’t want to do anything to rock it. Some, who do believe there is a God, don’t want to accept Jesus because they think they have sinned too much to ever be forgiven. Or they might have been convinced that Jesus is not God by their parents, friends, or holy men of different faiths. Some are good people who believe that their life on earth is all there is, or that their good works will be a ticket to a joyous hereafter. I do believe that a person can create a “heaven on earth” for themselves. While this is wonderful, it is not all there is. Some fear death, but those who believe in a hereafter have little fear of death.
You said that the New Testament was written long after Jesus was dead. The most important books of the New Testament were written within the lifetimes of those who walked with Jesus. Using the Christian calendar, Jesus died about 33 A.D. The gospel of Matthew was written by a Jewish tax collector who was a disciple of Jesus, between 60 and 65 A.D. Luke was a Greek physician before he became Jesus’ disciple and he wrote his account about 60 A.D. John was an apostle and eye-witness to Jesus’ persecution, his ascension to Heaven, and Jesus’ return for forty days thereafter when He spent time instructing His disciples on how to spread the gospel throughout the world. John did his writing between 85 and 90 A.D. He also wrote the last book of the Bible, Revelations while he was in prison on the island of Patmos in 95 A.D. All of the writing were guided by God who inspired the prophets, writers and apostles throughout the ages. While these writings were after Jesus death and resurrection, they were by men who witnessed Jesus’ life and death.
There is some confusion about God and Jesus, even in the minds of believers. Jesus is God and a full partner with our Heavenly Father, as is also the Holy Spirit. Christianity teaches that there are three entities, all part of God: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. This is a difficult concept for some, but it is the truth and the Bible lets us learn how all this operates. It took a while for me to even partially understand the relationship between these entities and how each functions. No one will ever have the total knowledge of the complexity of God, but developing a functioning knowledge has been a big help to me.
I remember that you touched on where God can put all the people who go to Heaven. For our all-powerful God who created the universe, this is a relatively simple matter. There is plenty of room in the universe for Heaven. Exactly where it will be, we haven’t been told.
What some people miss is the big picture. Although we agonize about every little thing, I firmly believe that our life on earth is really only important as a training ground for the afterlife. Our bodies will die, but our real selves, our souls, live forever. After we die, we will remember everything that happened to us on earth, but we will be in one of two places, depending on our choices while here. The first step in making the choice that will benefit us for all eternity is to recognize that there really is a God who created everything. It just had to be because if the earth were closer or further from the sun, life as we know it would not exist. If the solar system was even one degree off, there would be chaos. After I thought about this and accepted a creator of everything, my big problem was that I found it hard to love an entity that I had never met or didn’t really know.
The Bible says that we must love our God with all our heart, mind and soul. Over a period of time I finally realized that the good fortune that I thought I had planned and created was really a gift from God’s Grace. Every step where someone came into my life and helped me was actually God making it happen. I thought back to all the nice people who had done something really great for me at just the right time and now know that it wasn’t coincidence as I once thought. It also wasn’t my planning, although I was given this gift and was able to use it. Did I deserve this? Certainly not, I am a sinner as is everyone on earth. It is only by God’s Grace that He helps. I told God a while back that it would be outright foolish of me not to love someone who had loved me all my life and done so much for me. His love is for everyone!
How do I know this? After I came to be a true believer, I started to get signs when I talked things over with God. At first it amazed me that He really wanted to hear from everyone, and could do this all at one time, everyone who wants to talk to Him. Our most powerful computers if all strung together would be but a blip compared with His infinite ability. Now I get signs several times a day. Almost every time I ask for help with some problem, like writing this letter, I get help and often a sign that I am going to get help.
Now to me at least, here is the rest of the big picture. God, our Heavenly Father, caused His Son Jesus to be born of the Virgin Mary. Many do not believe in Immaculate Conception but an all-powerful God could easily make this happen. Jesus grew up and walked on earth for thirty-three years. To Christians at least, His life is the most important event that ever happened on earth. Our calendar is numbered from His birth, although many other calendars are used. He preached God’s Word, did miracles, was crucified, died and on the third day he arose from the dead. He came back and spent forty days with his disciples before making his final ascension to be on the right side of the Father. His whole life was documented by writers who spent time with Him. His life, crucifixion and resurrection are the whole basis for Christianity. The Israelites who lived at that time recognized Him only as a gifted rabbi. They were looking for a messiah who would take control of their land and free them from Roman rule. Instead He came to create a spiritual rule that would last forever. When they found that he wasn’t going to be an earthly ruler, they turned away from Him. That is why most Jews deny Christ today. They don’t admit that He really was the Messiah that they had hoped for. His coming and crucifixion was predicted thousands of years before He was born, and recorded in the Old Testament. His life is laid out in great detail in the New Testament.
So, those who wail about the bad things that are happening miss the real picture. They do not grasp that God does not step into each brawl and punish the bad guys. They will be punished in time unless they confess their sins and repent and worship Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The good guys will suffer a similar fate as the bad guys if they do not take the same course for redemption. This seems unfair, but that is God’s rule. He put Jesus on earth to provide a path to Him, but each person has to take the steps. God does not program anyone to do a certain thing; all have a free will. God wants only those who truly love Him. The rest He allows Satan to own.
And Satan is another piece of the big picture. Satan was an angel in Heaven with God but he became overly ambitious. He decided to set up his own kingdom. Satan is a major influence in the world today and will be until Jesus returns. Many people don’t believe that the devil exists, but he is alive and well and trying to lure as many as he can to his domain. He is smart and crafty and tempts people in the most subtle ways. I know he has worked on me, and sometimes I recognize this and avoid it, but sometimes not until later do I realize that he has affected my life in some way. When we love anything more than God we are in Satan’s corner. The love of money, fancy things, and anything that we treasure above a love of God is really idolatry and abhorred by God. God wants us to spend some time with Him also. I have come to not really treasure anything I own and gladly give up money and other things. All of us must also be wary of the thousands of writers who are trying to discredit Christianity. Satan works this way too.
Here is some more of the big picture that I find spelled out in the Bible. Those people who have Jesus as their Lord and Savior, have admitted that they are sinners, confessed each and every one of their sins and asked for forgiveness, and now show their love for Jesus in every way they can. They are called “My Children” by Jesus. These people will soon now be taken up with him when He comes. Everyone else will be left on earth to go through the Tribulation prophesied in the Bible. Satan will rule and first raise a man to become head of all the nations. He will be accepted as he will promise peace, and will actually deliver peace for over three years. Then he will begin to show his true intent and through guile, coercion and torture, will get everyone he can to accept his sign, the number 666. Those who refuse will be tortured and beheaded. Thus the last 3 ½ years of Tribulation will be a terrible experience for Christians who haven’t repented of all their sins. But, if they resist Satan, their real selves, their souls with new bodies will end up in Paradise with Jesus. Those who accept Satan will have an easy time during the early part of Tribulation, but they will spend eternity with Satan in torture. The wisest course by far is to avoid Tribulation by confessing all sins, repenting and truly loving Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This overall message is a hard pill for most people, but it is something that the Bible teaches.
During my quest to understand God, I had to take the steps one at a time. First I came to accept that there really is a God of creation who is too infinite for me to fully understand; then I found Jesus, and then I came to love both God the Father and Jesus. I studied the Bible with prayers for understanding, and read many books by people who had already traveled this path. It is not a quick path but is enjoyable, and no matter how time consuming it might be, it is worth every ounce of effort. Actually I found the Bible fascinating and as I prayed for understanding, it became more and more clear. The very best Bible for me is the Life Application Bible, available at book stores. In the New International Version (NIV), it is the easiest to read. It is the version recognized by many Christian churches today. In that ‘Life Application Bible’, there is almost as much explanation written by the same scholars as actual Bible text, so you really come to understand. I never attempt to learn every chapter and verse as I would need a photographic memory. But now I have a feeling for much of the Bible and believe that I know a considerable amount of its meaning. I continue to set aside a half-hour or so most evenings for this reading, and it has been valuable for me.
Many people actually have seen and felt the presence of Jesus Christ. He is trying to gain as many people as possible before He returns. He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. The book that really woke me up (“Heaven Is So Real”) was written for this purpose. I correspond with the author Choo Thomas regularly and have gotten to know her. She is a modern-day apostle of Jesus and we have developed a deep spiritual love for one another. She has been with Jesus many times and communicates with Him every day. Of course not many can have this kind of experience, and they must accept the testimony of others. After all, there are a myriad of things that we accept on faith because others have told us about them. Many have had near-death experience where they see Heaven, and some have experienced hell, and have lived to tell about it. The creatures at the depths of the ocean we may never see but we accept other’s story that they are there. We would never go to sleep if we didn’t have faith that we would wake up. Yes these are different kinds of faith than having faith in God, but nevertheless they represent faith. Without faith, the lives of people would be shallow and meaningless. The Bible is there to support our faith, and archeological findings have confirmed the existence of things that are told about in the Bible.
A relationship with Jesus can bring us a truly happy life, though many non-believers say they are happy. Some think that they are too busy to spend time praying or worshiping the Lord. I thought that way much of my life. Now I realize how much I missed. I get back many times more in quality of life than I spend with the Lord and in trying to do His work. Some have told me that they aren’t interested. There may some sins in their life for which they don’t think that they will be forgiven, but they will if they ask. Also they think that their life style will have to be different and they will have to give up things they enjoy. God wants us to enjoy life, but not at the expense of a void of love for Him. Some believe they could not face their friends if they came to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Friends should not be as important as our salvation.
The Bible says that the Jews are God’s chosen people since Abraham and continuing today. God made a covenant with Abraham to promote and protect his linage as long as they obeyed Him. The problem was that time and time again they decided that they wanted to go their own way. They worshiped dead idols and a multitude of gods over the centuries. Each time, God punished them by enlisting the services of a kingdom that was stronger but often evil. That kingdom however was punished when they mistreated their captives. The first was slavery in Egypt. Then Assyria became an oppressor. Syria, the Babylonian Empire, Medo-Persian Empire, the Greeks, and finally the Roman Empire played key parts in Jewish history. Since their captivity by Egypt, until 1948, the Jews did not have a homeland. Each part of their story is intensely interesting. As long as they obeyed God they prospered. Abraham of course is both the sire of the Jews through his son Isaac, but is also responsible for the present day Moslems. As you know he and Sarah could not wait for God’s plan, so his first born son was with his wife Sarah’s servant. Ishmael was the beginning of the Arab line that became the arch-enemy of Israel and still is today. Whenever the Jews obeyed God, they were protected from enemies and were empowered to overcome them. The big example is their successful conquest of the “Promised Land”. They defeated kingdoms far stronger than they were. It is sad that they chose to disobey God time and time again and therefore suffered his wrath. This does not say that all the Jews’ sufferings were from lack of obedience to God, but so many were.
I can tell you that I am getting rewards right now while still on earth. God lifts many burdens from me. I have a deep feeling of peace, and know where I will be after I die. As I said, I really do get help from the Holy Spirit, and it is a tremendous comfort to know that He is there for me, actually residing within me. I know that I can pray to God and unload all problems on Him, and expect help with everything that is worthy of His help. A song I love goes like this: “What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and grief to bear, What a privilege to carry, Every thing to God in prayer.” My knowledge and experience, while paltry compared with some who have had faith for a long time, is what drives me to try to share this with others. I believe this knowledge is vital beyond measure for our lives throughout eternity. Beginning my days with a talk with God is a great start for me, and ending each day with thanks and unloading my concerns lets me sleep in peace. We were all put on earth for a purpose; I pray that I will fulfill the purpose for which He put me here. The most important fact is that God is love and we should love Him and everyone.
If there is any part of this message or anything else that you would like to talk about, any time, it would be my pleasure. As you well know, I am nobody special; everything that God shares with me is available to all for the asking. He is waiting for each of us to ask.
I pray that the love of God comes to you in full measure. George Hagen