Personal Jesus!!!                                   

• Following the slight format change, I will have my responses to the mail in bold. PRAISE!!

• an Mr. Squirrel
  
  
  Name: Gary

• I wanted to thank you, for the response. It caused me
  to get introspective and I liked what resulted of it.
  I looked deep into what my relationship with Christ is
  about, it has strengthened my faith and resolve.
  As for persecution, no, you are just being you, I
  guess.

• My question would be this: Did you REALLY question these things? Did you REALLY look into why you believe these things? Or was it the prodding of the holy spirit and a few bible verses shown to you by god?

• I would like to know some things however, If Jesus is
  a myth, is God the Father? Is it Just Christians who
  are duped by myths or all religions? And finally, If
  you don't believe in God or Jesus, why are you so
  angry at Him?
  I just want to understand.

• Easy, you have a belief. There is no evidence for your god, let alone any god. You believe things without proof. Faith is the cornerstone of your religion. The myths that have been drilled into your head have taken root. I will never say "There is no god." I am not an omniscient being. I do not believe in the existence of any god. To include the christian god. As for anger... um sorry I cannot be angry at something I do NOT believe in. There is no anger at "god", or "jesus" for that matter. I hold them to be myths, and nothing more. Many religions have the same types of faith as christianity does. There are many gods, and many saviors. There have been many miracles, and wonders. Holy books are a dime a dozen, and the bible is not the oldest amongst them. So, why should your religion get a special hearing?

• Please find my introspective below.
  My relationship with Jesus

  I was asked recently to define my relationship with
  Jesus. It caused me to do a lot of thinking. I know
  the flippant answer to that question. I know the
  Church answer to that question as well, but what is my
  answer?
  How do I see my relationship with Jesus? Is He
  Savior, Lord, Friend or Lover of my soul? The answer
  is yes, but what do these mean? To a Christian, they
  mean quite a bit, I guess, but to a nonbeliever
  probably not much. That being said, what do they mean
  to me? That is the most important answer actually,
  because Christian and non alike, they don’t answer for
  me nor do they know my heart.

• This would make it all SUBJECTIVE. And hardly support for the existence of a god, just support for your BELIEF in this god. Also note that this "coherent" god is the common string binding all christians together, yet all christians will have a differing answer for these "questions".

• Before I ever existed Jesus died for me. The power
  in that statement is awesome. I trust the bible as
  being God’s inerrant Word. It states that God the
  Father has known me before I was a thought in my
  parents mind, that he saw me being formed in my
  mother’s womb and that he provides everything I need
  to remain alive in this world. Faith gives me the
  ability to believe this, as well as, 34 years of
  existence and contact with hundreds of other people he
  has done the same for. I have seen Him at work in my
  life and I know that all the good in my life is a
  result of His blessing and mercy. I also believe I
  have done nothing to deserve His mercy, that it is a
  result of His Love, a love so incredible that it would
  move Him to sacrifice His Son for me. Jesus came into
  the world to rescue the lost, to pay the price sin
  costs humanity; to pay the price sin cost me. He did
  it because God the Father set the standard and we
  refused to keep it, so He made a way for us to be
  redeemed. Jesus is Savior, because he paid the debt
  in full. I didn’t, or could I come close to, paying
  any minute portion of the debt I owe God. Jesus paid
  it all! The fact that I receive this gift makes Him
  my Savior.

• Well, before you ever existed the myth of jesus' death was going around yes. I call it a myth simply because there is no solid beyond shadow of a doubt proof it ever happened. You trust the bible, and believe it to be the inerrant word of god. Well, if it could be shown that it is in fact errant what then? I do not doubt you believe and trust in the bible and god.... don't get me wrong. But, if the bible was not what you hold it to be what then? As for the whole love thing, I do not see it. Murder and torture in any case is a bad thing. Plus, if this god was perfect.... well you see what I mean ......

• Jesus as Lord, is a deeper relationship, and more
  difficult to maintain on my part. The apostle Paul
  writes in Philippians chapter two that one day “every
  knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus
  Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.” This
  tells me Jesus is Lord whether I say so or not.

• This tells you. Fine, does that mean it is an ABSOLUTE TRUTH? Or just that you believe it to be?

• What makes Him my Lord? He is my Lord when I am
  willing to follow Him and listen to what He tells me
  to do. Much more difficult that it seems I’m afraid,
  I lust after women, Jesus doesn’t want me to. I lie;
  Jesus doesn’t want me to. I get angry and sin; Jesus
  doesn’t want me to. This is probably the toughest
  part of this introspective, that I say I am a
  Christian and that Jesus is my Lord and Friend, and I
  treat Him in such a horrible way. My faults and
  failures cause me to question the validity of these
  aspects of our relationship. Then He reminds me the
  validity of our relationship relies on His
  faithfulness and love.

• Sounds like you are dependent upon this jesus to think, and be moral. You base your behavior on what this jesus wants. What do you want? Repression? To be reminded of your "faults" all the time? To flog yourself with your unworth and dirty nature that you have simply because you were BORN?

• He is eternal and so is His love and Faithfulness. It
  is because of these attributes, that move me to try
  harder to be the person He wants me to be, I want to
  live for Him, because He died for me. Even though I
  fail, sometimes miserably, He still directs me and I
  am compelled to follow. I am moved by my Lord’s love!
  My friend Jesus travels with me every step of my
  life. Although I must admit that I sometimes ignore
  Him He still hangs around. I don’t understand what he
  receives from this friendship, it seems very one
  sided. Jesus told His disciples, “ You are my friends
  if you do what I command you” He then gives the
  command, “Love one another as I have Loved You!” In
  reading and thinking on this, I guess the best way I
  can be a friend to Jesus is to Love other people as He
  does, and again I fall short of this.
  Jesus loves unconditionally, which is something I can
  hardly fathom. He sees, according to the bible,
  Christians as brothers and sisters and friends, and
  non-Christians as lost sheep looking for a safe haven
  and He wants them to come to him and be safe. Jesus
  wants me to see people in this manner as well.
  I am to hate sin and love the sinner; I am to strive
  to tell people about His love and friendship. The
  problem with this is that my view is so skewed, that
  to see people as lost, I so often see them as foolish
  and I see Christians as stupid, having the knowledge
  of this friendship and ignoring it so they can remain
  safe in their self-righteous cocoon. One benefit of
  my friendship with Jesus is that when we talk, He can
  set my view to His, and when I see them from His
  perspective, I can be more easily moved to love them.

• Hold on, you don't really care about these people. You are only mimicking what you think jesus wants you to. Strange is it not? You NEED jesus to set your example, as if you are incapable to set one yourself. That or your self esteem is shot, and held in check by jesus and the mind washing that has occurred. As for the unconditional love of this jesus, I think not. There is a condition, you must accept this "free" gift. If it was free, then you would not need to accept it, and there would be no need of salvation.

• I only have to look in the mirror to see how smug all
  Christians can be. Being Jesus’ friend really is lop
  sided though. I give Him my sin; He gives me eternal
  life with Him. I give Him my pain; He gives me joy. I
  give Him my sickness; He gives me health. I cause Him
  pain when I sin; He forgives freely. He has
  transformed my life with His incredible love. I know
  that without Him I would be lost and empty, living a
  worthless existence. Instead, I have a life in which
  I am free, free to serve others and I am granted the
  grace to let them serve me too. I have come to
  realize that if we are to be Jesus' ’friends we are to
  treat others as He would treat them. If we, all those
  who believe in Him, did this, we would not live for
  ourselves, rather the world would be motivated to
  loving Jesus because of this. We would be living with
  a love in our hearts, which continually looked out for
  the well being of others. I cannot do this all the
  time, but if I continue to communicate with Him
  through prayer and bible reading and Fellowship with
  other believers, I will become stronger in this. I
  further believe that in being a better friend to
  Jesus, His place as Lord in my life will grow stronger
  and deeper. I want to do these things, not because of
  fear of hell, because heaven is my home. Rather, I
  want to do this because heaven is my home and the One
  who made it and me loves me. His friendship compels
  me to befriend others, with a holy unconditional love.
  I pray to have the strength, God given, to do this.
  Not for my own good feeling but to bring Him glory. I
  want to tell people about Jesus, just as I would want
  to tell about any friend. Jesus is my Friend! Would
  you like to know about Him?
  Jesus is the Lover of my Soul. What in the heck does
  that mean? I think it means that, just as I love my
  wife Jesus loves my soul. The soul is really the only
  part of us that goes to heaven, yes we get a new body
  that is imperishable, but it is not the body that we
  walk around in here on earth. What makes us, well, us
  is our soul. Again, just like Jesus being the Savior
  is completely his doing, so is His being the Lover of
  my soul. The greatest mystery to me is why.
  Why would He love my soul, or any one else’s for that
  matter? The only reason I can think of is that He
  made us. As a father loves his children so God loves
  us. He wants what is best for us, He wishes for all
  people to be with Him in heaven. Sadly, however, some
  people only see a dictator or cosmic killjoy. If
  people could only see the freedom in following God and
  taking Him at His word, they could enjoy the blessings
  of an abundant life filled with joy. Instead they
  mistake the ordinances and authorities He has set as
  barricades to fun rather than boundaries for safety.
  Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and
  have it to the full.” I believe he meant that “life”
  to start here on earth when we receive Him as Savior
  and Lord and the term “full” refers to now as well.
  It does not necessarily mean financial wealth and
  riches in abundance, but true enjoyment of all the
  blessings God has given to us. The ability to enjoy
  the mundane things, things we normally take for
  granted, like the sunrise, the rain, fresh air, our
  jobs, the free time of vacation, children laughing,
  silence, the beauty of a tree, a dog licking your face
  or the smell of cookies baking. These are all
  relatively minor things, but when they are viewed as
  blessings from God, they become monumental, and a
  reason for praise and thanksgiving. The pure Joy that
  can be experienced in silence and stillness is awesome
  but it is true peace when you can “be still and know
  that He is God.” Throughout the bible full reliance
  is having God be your strength, peace, protection,
  defender. God is everlasting if he is your all in
  all, you are never disappointed, you don’t strive for
  the passing fancies of this world, but you hold on to
  the eternal,
  because, as I have said previously for a child of God
  eternity began when you received Him. Real life does
  not exist in the amount of money you have or the
  quantity or quality of stuff. Treasures in this life
  from God’s perspective, according to scripture, are
  people and His word, the only two things that will be
  forever.
  I am not a theologian nor a scholar taught by great
  theological minds. I am simply, a child of God.
  Bought by the blood of Jesus, who suffered and died.
  He then was raised to life on the third day in order
  to have victory over death once and for all. Why? In
  order that I may be with Him in His kingdom now and
  forever, that I may walk in newness of life and free
  from all fear. How do I know this? Because He sent
  His Holy Spirit to be with all whom believe in Him,
  and I have tested these things in my life and I have
  found them to be true, not just for me, but true for
  every one. Every one can know this joy and peace.

• Assuming that jesus was real. The rhetoric was okay, a little long winded, but okay. Personal testimony to be sure, and subjective as all hell. Your opinion, nothing more.

• Lord Jesus, help me to see people with Your eyes, to
  Love them with Your heart, to listen with You ears, to
  tell them Your words and to be gracious as You have
  been to me. May they see You when they look at me, so
  that You may be glorified and they may see you as
  Savior, Lord, Friend and Lover of their soul. Amen.

• I do not know if anyone has ever told you this, but prayer for an atheist is a waste of time. Instead of appealing to the sky pixie provide concrete evidence and proof that your god is real. Solid irrefutable proof. Give me that, not a silly prayer. If your prayer influences this god, then what does that mean? Can you change this omnimax being's mind? Hmmmm.... but I will settle for proof of your god please. Opinions are nice, but I have my own as well. And if I take your subjective experiences as proof, then I would have to ignore my own, and vice versa.