Dear Mr. Smith,
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you that I recently came upon your site, and I find what you believe to be very thought provoking, as well as incredibly spiritually uplifting. You see, I too am a Seeker of Truth, and have been now for several years. To make a long story short, I was brought up in strict Christiandom but became very disallusioned as I reached my teens and early adulthood, I couldn’t wait to escape my mother’s church. As I married and had children of my own, I began to feel the need to have a foundation to base the moral teachings that I would try to impose on their lives. By the time they reached “the age of reason�, I began to once again see a need to try and reconcile my disdain for religion with my need to give my children some spiritual foundation in their young lives. I set out in search of a church which I could take them to, and in doing so I found myse lf “trying out� almost as if “auditioning� many different denominations and non-denominations. In my desperate search for something “spiritual� that my children could cling to, I found my own deep need and yearning for a spiritual “home� coming quickly to the surface. A need that I had successfully, or so I thought, suppressed for many years once escaping my mother’s dogmatic and suffocating church. Ironically in all of my efforts to try to “save� my children, I was largely unsuccessful and seemed to only succeed in making them resent it and by proxy God as well. I noticed that only one of them seemed to have an interest in spiritual things and in Him, but also seemed to be spiritually restless just like her mother.
If only I could have known that nothing I tried to do would have made a difference in their Salvation. If only I had known that a true follower of Christ does not “go� to “church,� but rather, IS part of THE church or Body of Christ. I can only hope and pray that I have not done anything to delay their salvation. I would love to know that not only I but also each one of them are not only CALLED but also CHOSEN as well. But I do take great comfort in your seemingly documented belief about Universal Salvation. I say seemingly, as I have already stated I consider myself to be a Truth Seeker and I am in constant study of His Truth. While you certainly present a Good News Gospel of the most wonderful kind…I need to Study To Show Myself Approved. I’m sure you’ll agree. I feel that God has led me down this path of “church hopping�, in order to open my eyes and get me to see that what I diligently searching for could only be found within myself where His Spirit resides. Because each time I try to “GO� to “Church�, I find myself walking away in spiritual disappointment instead of spiritual fulfillment. It has been a difficult lesson to learn, but it has been worth it to finally understand and discover the true meaning of being a follower of Him. You see, he could have just answered my many prayers asking for discernment in this area and certainly saved me not only a lot of trouble but also many miles on my car in my searching for that “Perfect Spiritual Home�, but instead He chose to show me WHY buildings were not important when I possess my OWN building or Temple for the closeness of His Spirit that I crave. Isn’t that wonderful Ray!
Ok…now that I’ve probably bored you silly, I do have a question. While I haven’t read all of what you have written, I have read the Lake of Fire writings as well as numerous e’mails, and I was wondering about your belief regarding the mortality of one’s soul. While what you believe so far seems to make biblical sense, I have read as well as heard of many near death experiences. In fact my own father-in-law had an experience that he related to me. If you have already covered this, then please if you would just direct me to where you covered it? If not, would you please explain this to me? Thank you very much for your time. You must be a very busy man and I honestly don’t know how you fin d the time to do all that you are doing. Also if you could include in your answer to me, what did Paul mean when he stated that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord?
May God richly bless you with the wisdom of His Truths.
In Him,
Tamara
PS: I also wanted to add that I find your teachings about Hell and the grave to be right along side my own deeply held beliefs. I hold these beliefs not from deep study, but rather from my own inner spirit telling me that how can my own sense of justice and right and wrong be BETTER than my own creators’?? I could no more torcher my worst ememy for 5 seconds let alone for all eternity, and I CERTAINLY couldn’t even fathom doing the same to my own children! How in the world can ANYONE think that our HEAVENLY FATHER could even conceive of such a thing! It boggles my mind! You know…I wonder if people who aren’t parents find this evil doctrine easier to believe than people who are.
Dear Tamara:
It isn't that you "bore me silly," it's just that I don't have the time to read lengthy emails, and usually what is written has little if any bearing on the question. I have had Part C of my "Hell" series posted for at least a half year now, and it covers a lot of material concerning whether we have an "immortal" soul or not. You need to read it.
God be with you,
Ray
