ya know Chak sometimes I think you are just being cranky.

Not so. You are quite sure of the things you believe, and I believe with equal sincerity that the fundamentalist strain of christianity that you follow is a fairly narrow (but vibrant!) spiritual path, that ignores much of the collected experience and wisdom of 2,000 years of your own religion, as well as that to be found in others. We are never going to agree, but we continue to debate, you with the hope that God may one day move my heart to see that you are right after all, and me with the hope that you will one day see the wider picture. There is mutual stubbornness, (not crankiness), here that provides the fuel for our debate. Personally I get a lot from it...

Hey Chak,

well good I'm relieved you're not being a crank!! I'm pleased that you're sincere, and as you know I do believe you can be sincere and sincerely wrong at the same time....I say that wih love....of course!!!! Don't say never tho, because you just may have a surprise encounter with you know who. I've seen it happen with more stubborn ones than you.

Let me tell you a story that involves my son's future wife's parents. Her Dad I'll call B was an ex-cop just turned 50 two years ago. He was currently a private eye and hated us "Jesus freaks." He was very uncomforable around us. It was plain as day. We all knew it. He stayed out of church and out of our lives as much as possible. When his ex partner on the force became a Christian, he wanted nothing of it. We started picking his daughter up for church....he wanted nothing of it. We showed up in his life in 2000. Nov 2004 he finally moved away from us with his wife to another state far away from us "freaks." He moved to a little town called Goshen on a road named "Baptist Hill" Road three doors down from a little country church that rang its bells. I laughed my head off and told Amanda (his daughter) that God had big plans for her parents. They didn't move three doors down from a church for nothing and in the land of Goshen for no reason.

July 2005 B was sitting in his especially equipped van spying on a house at 6 am when he heard a click; a gun to his head. He thought he was a dead man. He knew in that instant he wasn't right before God. He was a total wreck. His car was highjacked. His life shattered. He went home and said to his wife "I need to go to church." That Sunday they walked three doors down to that little Baptist church. The preacher was preaching on Romans. He said (and I am not lying I swear) "You just faced death in the face and you are now walking out of darknes." B and his wife knew then that God was calling them. They both gave their lives to Christ that day. And boy are they new creatures today. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME MAN. He is now preaching Jesus in the prison system. He gave up his job as the private eye. When I told his ex partner this story he said he would never believe it. He couldn't. Until B called Rick and told him himself that he and his wife were baptized that day. Now they look back on their lives and can see things they never saw before. Like why their house sold in one day, their moving to Baptist Hill Rd in Goshen, etc.

There's alot more to this story but for brevity sake....but one more thing...the preacher who not only moved in next door to B and his wife but now they are very best friends. He showed B his sermon notes that day. What he said from the pulpit that so moved them was never written down in his notes. I believe this because I've seen this as well involving my preacher and a lady in my church who had a similar experience. He too said it was not written down in his notes but just came out of his mouth.

So Chak....you just never know. I have a big God and I do see the wider picture. I "See" much more than you understand.

Blessings!!

KFC