I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you how I came to be here. First, I'm Eileen and I have been married for 21 years this month and my husband and I have 3 children ages 22, 20 and 17.
Almost two months ago, my oldest son got into some trouble with a girl he was living with and he came home. He looked terrible and I had been told by outside observers that he was using drugs, more than the alcohol and marijuana I already knew about. I was at church a week later and I was praying for his lost soul. He himself cried to me that he wanted his soul back. While in church, I felt a presence that weakened me. I went home and googled "God help me" and was immediately taken to "Allaboutgod.com" where was reading and then got an invitation to join "allaboutgod.NET". I was greeted with welcomes and set up my own web page there and I was feeling like 'okay, God wanted me to find this site'. I started thinking 'I don't want to be Catholic I want to be christian'. I went to visit my 85 year old mother (a lifetime DEVOUT Catholic). She is a simple woman with a simple faith. I told her that I believed (as one of my sisters who left the RCC a long time ago, and now "Lutheran" sort of) that you only needed to believe in Jesus to go to heaven and that I didn't believe in "purgatory". She said "well what about the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man?" I really wasn't that familiar with the story. So, I went home and googled it to find out the story so that I could tell her. That search brought me to bible truths. And for 10 days straight (and into the wee hours of the morning), I read more than my pea brain could process. I actually overloaded on this site. However, I have come to see that Ray has clearly done his homework and questions that have dogged me for years were answered and Ray made complete sense of the bible to me. Not that I understand 1/100 of the bible but I have a clearer understanding.
The most freeing aspect was that ALL WILL BE SAVED! Now maybe I just wanted to hear that. But while I posed this question (What happens to people of other religions), on allaboutgod.net, I was quoted something about the word of God reaching all four corners of the earth and then the end would be near. And told that because of technology today, nearly everyone could hear about Jesus Christ. In other words, no excuse. It was stated much more intelligently than that and I bought it but I was not happy about it at all. I want some of the kindest people I know to have a chance. My "Lutheran" sister told another one of my sisters (I have 6) that her son-in-law who was Jewish was going to burn in hell if he didn't accept Jesus Christ. Her son-in-law married her daughter knowing she was afflicted with an illness that could easily take her life and that they would not have children and I'm not even sure they could let's say "consummate" the marriage. He takes care of her! He loves her and is dedicated and true to her. But he is going to burn in hell? I can't accept that. I won't accept that.
I have always accepted that all are subject to God's Will but probably not to the extent that I do now. That too was freeing to me. I can now love my enemies (phileo love?). Really, I have never been able to see the good in everyone until now. I have also found patience which is something I have prayed for all my life!! I don't feel angry or envious anymore. I have so much more peace in my life. However, I can't get my husband to let go of his "fabled free will". I joke with him and tell him we are "unequally yoked" now.
And the best thing that has happened is my oldest son is in rehab now and I spoke with him today. He sounds like a different person. He sounds like the child I lost so long ago. Don't get me wrong, I don't deceive myself. I know that he has a long road ahead of him but I pray that God keeps knocking on his door and I plan to reintroduce him to God via this website. I can't wait for the Nashville Conference audio's because my son is too scientific about our being here on earth. I'm confident Ray will be able to help him see things he has never considered before.
Thanks for listening.
Eileen
Dear Eileen
Roy UK here. I too was a one time disillusioned Catholic, unfortunately I jumped ship mid ocean and landed on a piece of drift wood by the name of "The World Wide Church Of God". This new life saver turned out to be very unstable, so I decided to jump yet again only this time I landed in real deep water "The Pentecostal Church" with weird practices that threatened to take me under.
Being " Slain by the Spirit" they called it. People falling on their backs on stage, kicking their legs in the air and howling like dogs. In the Bible I could find only one unfortunate who fell on his back and that was Eli and he broke his neck and died, but surprisingly this lot came back to life. Everyone in the Bible appeared to fall flat on their faces regardless of damaging their good by breaking their nose. These antics disgusted me because I could not bring myself to believe that anyone who believed and worshiped God could degrade Him in such a depraved way.
No more jumping ship, I needed proper help. And do you know something I discovered that there is only one place where that help can come from and that is God. I knew there was a God but I also knew that He wasn't in the places I'd visited.
My wife was 92 and I was 85 at the time. She suffered with Alzheimer's disease and on my knees I prayed and do you know what? After 57 years of happy married live He took her away from me and left me devastated with a part of me dying with her - my will to live. For twelve months I went through the motions of a living, talking, eating, sleeping and waking robot. It was hell in the Babylonian sense of the word. Then it happened, I typed hell into "Google" and up came "Bible Truths". I read...I read...I read and I'm still reading about things that I'd never dreamed of.
The Lord calls His people out in mysterious ways and they are mostly all painful, and mine was no different.
Would you believe me if I told you, now I actually praise the Lord and thank Him for taking her, because He did it ever so gently and lovingly right out of my arms into His, no pain, no suffering just peaceful. At the time I was devastated and cursed and fell out with Him, but now I shudder to think of what the end result could have been had the disease progressed to its final stages. We don't look at things like that do we? But we are not God we are selfish and mean. Who can doubt that He is a Loving and Merciful God, I mean other than Babylon?
Now my life is centred around my Lord Jesus Christ and my prayer is that He not I will take control of this empty tent.
I have written all this because I believe that when He calls the trip is not a walk in the park as Ray says. And yours is no different so:
"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Josh.1:9)
God bless and make you into a new creation as He has done with me.
Love in Christ Jesus
Roy.
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