Hi Fish,
From an earlier posting: BILL'S REPLY: "That person lost in the wilderness of the world is you, Fish. That life saving water is Jesus Christ. He offers you the free gift of life, eternal life. If you refuse Him, who is at fault -- Him for offering -- or you for refusing. When you refuse, you condemn yourself."
Fish reply: "Oh please. I have never and will never condemn anyone, especially myself. That would be stupid. But what does that have to do with the fact that Christianity forces one way of thinking over another?"
BILL'S COMMENT: Mr. Fish, I see the problem. You have a spelling problem; I say CHOOSE and you spell it FORCE. I say CHOICE and you spell it FORCE.
You are like the lady who approached a well known pastor, H. A. Ironside, many years ago saying, "Pastor, how can I know if I am really saved?"
He had her read John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
The pastor asked the lady, "What does this Scripture verse tell you?"
She replied, "That God loves me and I can have eternal life."
The pastor had her read it again, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Again, she looked at the pastor with a quizzical look. The pastor smiled and told her, "I see the problem. When you were in school they taught you to read H A V E as W A N T -- so you read this as, "but WANT eternal life -- instead of His promise to HAVE eternal life."
"No, my dear," Pastor Ironside told her. "God says that WHOEVER believes in Him shall HAVE, H A V E, eternal life.
And, my dear Friend, Fish -- evidently where you went to the same school as this sweet lady -- where they were teaching CHOOSE as FORCE. So, maybe we can reeducate you and teach you that when God tells you that you have a CHOICE -- that is exactly what He means. No amount of atheistic twisting and corrupting of words can change that -- just as God cannot, because He gave you free will to CHOOSE, change your heart unless you CHOOSE for it to be changed. By the same token, God cannot change your eternal destination. But, YOU can change your eternal destination by making the right CHOICE.
Spelling 101 now complete. With all my heart, I pray that you pass THIS course.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill Gray
billdory@pacbell.net
Alabama bred,
California fed,
Blessed by God to be a Christian American!