This is the Truth; Accept it Already!
Ugh. This is what I have to wake up to... good times. I just thought I'd share it because, well... I may as well be a first-hand example of the futility of trying to communicate with Christians.
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Cara and Caleb;
We have debated and discussed religion and politics intensley over the last several months. I think it has left us all angry, frusterated and emotionally at odds. The separation I feel between you and I is heartbreaking and very grievious to me and I have it on my mind continually. I assume you feel the same.
Words cannot express the love I have toward you. Your life began in me and I have a huge burden to see you born again by the spirit of Jesus. I don't claim to know all your thoughts, questions or experiences or fully understand who you are. But my love for you has never changed and my greatest desire is to know that we will be together in eterninty and fellowshipping before then. Current history is fulfilling in detail what was prophesied. Jesus said, "when you see these things taking place, " I AM at the door"! You don't have time to look to the world for answers. Jesus declared with authority that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is God in the flesh with a purpose to come show himself to us and have compassion on us and identify with the trials and disappoints we all suffer.
It may make you so angry at me; you may be sick and tired of this subject, but I won't give up on you or let this fade away because it is uncomfortable.
This is the most important decision of your life. I would rather have your anger and hate for me than to be passive and avoid conflict to keep the "peace" My prayer to Father God is for you to see Him as He is. To get alone before him in sincereity and repent of your sin, confess, mourn and agree with him that your heart is deceived and confused and that you need his forgiveness...
I know you want to point your finger at me and accuse me of poor choices and be angry at things we've gone through; you have ligitimate anger and disgust with Dad for the horrible things he put us through. David has also hurt us. He nor dad deserves forgiveness from God and neither do I. If we all got what we deserved; "WHO could stand?! No one deserves forgiveness but that is what Jesus offers us by accepting his death in our place. Our debt is paid. We don't "owe anything" if we humble ourselves before him and accept His undeserved favor (grace). Unless you are delivered from your enslavement to sin you won't be free. Sin enslaves us to be selfish, hostile to God and self destructive with many vices. But God makes us light and life.
At some point in our lives we have to look at only our own sin and have courage to see our transgressions against God. We each must take responsibility for the ways we have offended and grieved God. Don't be distracted by looking at the sins of others. It is personal between us and Him. Psalms 51 says "It is against you and you only God that I have sinned! I know you both have guilt over things you've done, maybe regrets and things you wish you could change. So join the crowd. We're all in the same boat.
The time is very urgent and the days to repent are rapidly decreasing. Whether we die by accident, illness or be taken by the Lords return it doesn't matter how!
Death is certain for all of us. No one can avoid it, but we can prepare for it. God says the the Fear (reverence) of God is the beginning of Wisdom".
As your mother I have taught you the truth. There is plenty of evidence about God and His plan for mankind. I began my walk with the Lord as a small child and he has been faithful and True to me all my life. Men have disappointed me; my life has been full of pain and sorrow at times but He has always been my comfort and I Trust Him. One day in Heaven He has promised there will be no more sorrow and no more pain, the old things will pass away...I have that hope that one day I will enter in to that eternal rest and I will relax in the arms of Jesus.
I beg the Holy Spirit daily on my knees and in my heart that you will put away pride, anger and unforgiveness. Life is not fair and people disappoint us and hurt us. We all know that, but Jesus has never hurt me or disappointed me in all my 53 years. I don't understand it all,
but I know he loves me through it all.
Remember that you were at one time seperated (living apart) from Christ, utterly estranged and strangers with no share in the sacred promises.
And you had no hope, you were in the world without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once so far away, through the blood of Christ
have been brought near.
For He HIMSELF is our peace and made us one, and has broken down the hostile deviding wall between us, by the means of the cross. And he came to
preach the good tidings of peace to you who were afar off. Therefore you are no longer outsiders or aliens but are set apart for Himself and you belong to God's own household.
But God-- so rich is He in His mercy! Because of the wonderful intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead in sin, He made us alive together in union with Christ. He gave us the very life of Christ himself, IT iS BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED. Ephesians 2:12-14; 4-5
I HOPE YOU WILL FIND A PRIVATE PLACE AND SEEK THE LORD. TRUST THAT HE WILL MEET WITH YOU AND ANSWER YOU WHEN YOU CALL.
I LOVE BOTH OF YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND I WOULD NEVER LIE TO YOU ABOUT MATTERS OF FAITH AND ETERNITY.
My promise to cling to is "not to loose heart or grow weary in well doing, for in due time, at the appointed season we shall reap if we don't give up".
My prayers for both of you is unceasing, GOD is Soverign, HE created you He will break down the wall that seperates you with His Love.
Love always MOM
---
Cara and Caleb;
We have debated and discussed religion and politics intensley over the last several months. I think it has left us all angry, frusterated and emotionally at odds. The separation I feel between you and I is heartbreaking and very grievious to me and I have it on my mind continually. I assume you feel the same.
Words cannot express the love I have toward you. Your life began in me and I have a huge burden to see you born again by the spirit of Jesus. I don't claim to know all your thoughts, questions or experiences or fully understand who you are. But my love for you has never changed and my greatest desire is to know that we will be together in eterninty and fellowshipping before then. Current history is fulfilling in detail what was prophesied. Jesus said, "when you see these things taking place, " I AM at the door"! You don't have time to look to the world for answers. Jesus declared with authority that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is God in the flesh with a purpose to come show himself to us and have compassion on us and identify with the trials and disappoints we all suffer.
It may make you so angry at me; you may be sick and tired of this subject, but I won't give up on you or let this fade away because it is uncomfortable.
This is the most important decision of your life. I would rather have your anger and hate for me than to be passive and avoid conflict to keep the "peace" My prayer to Father God is for you to see Him as He is. To get alone before him in sincereity and repent of your sin, confess, mourn and agree with him that your heart is deceived and confused and that you need his forgiveness...
I know you want to point your finger at me and accuse me of poor choices and be angry at things we've gone through; you have ligitimate anger and disgust with Dad for the horrible things he put us through. David has also hurt us. He nor dad deserves forgiveness from God and neither do I. If we all got what we deserved; "WHO could stand?! No one deserves forgiveness but that is what Jesus offers us by accepting his death in our place. Our debt is paid. We don't "owe anything" if we humble ourselves before him and accept His undeserved favor (grace). Unless you are delivered from your enslavement to sin you won't be free. Sin enslaves us to be selfish, hostile to God and self destructive with many vices. But God makes us light and life.
At some point in our lives we have to look at only our own sin and have courage to see our transgressions against God. We each must take responsibility for the ways we have offended and grieved God. Don't be distracted by looking at the sins of others. It is personal between us and Him. Psalms 51 says "It is against you and you only God that I have sinned! I know you both have guilt over things you've done, maybe regrets and things you wish you could change. So join the crowd. We're all in the same boat.
The time is very urgent and the days to repent are rapidly decreasing. Whether we die by accident, illness or be taken by the Lords return it doesn't matter how!
Death is certain for all of us. No one can avoid it, but we can prepare for it. God says the the Fear (reverence) of God is the beginning of Wisdom".
As your mother I have taught you the truth. There is plenty of evidence about God and His plan for mankind. I began my walk with the Lord as a small child and he has been faithful and True to me all my life. Men have disappointed me; my life has been full of pain and sorrow at times but He has always been my comfort and I Trust Him. One day in Heaven He has promised there will be no more sorrow and no more pain, the old things will pass away...I have that hope that one day I will enter in to that eternal rest and I will relax in the arms of Jesus.
I beg the Holy Spirit daily on my knees and in my heart that you will put away pride, anger and unforgiveness. Life is not fair and people disappoint us and hurt us. We all know that, but Jesus has never hurt me or disappointed me in all my 53 years. I don't understand it all,
but I know he loves me through it all.
Remember that you were at one time seperated (living apart) from Christ, utterly estranged and strangers with no share in the sacred promises.
And you had no hope, you were in the world without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once so far away, through the blood of Christ
have been brought near.
For He HIMSELF is our peace and made us one, and has broken down the hostile deviding wall between us, by the means of the cross. And he came to
preach the good tidings of peace to you who were afar off. Therefore you are no longer outsiders or aliens but are set apart for Himself and you belong to God's own household.
But God-- so rich is He in His mercy! Because of the wonderful intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead in sin, He made us alive together in union with Christ. He gave us the very life of Christ himself, IT iS BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED. Ephesians 2:12-14; 4-5
I HOPE YOU WILL FIND A PRIVATE PLACE AND SEEK THE LORD. TRUST THAT HE WILL MEET WITH YOU AND ANSWER YOU WHEN YOU CALL.
I LOVE BOTH OF YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND I WOULD NEVER LIE TO YOU ABOUT MATTERS OF FAITH AND ETERNITY.
My promise to cling to is "not to loose heart or grow weary in well doing, for in due time, at the appointed season we shall reap if we don't give up".
My prayers for both of you is unceasing, GOD is Soverign, HE created you He will break down the wall that seperates you with His Love.
Love always MOM
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Comment by Johnny on March 30, 2009 at 12:36pm -
> I would rather have your anger and hate for me than to be passive and avoid conflict to keep the "peace"
In religious exchanges between family, I always find lines like this saddening... She seems to be acknowledging that she could allow peace; but then consciously refuses to allow it.
Its a nigh impossible fight when all she is doing is condemning and proselytizing, with no logic and no openness in the communication. I can't even fathom how difficult it would be to have my mother send me something like that.
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Comment by James on March 30, 2009 at 12:57pm -
WOW! I don't know the entire back-story here. But that just sounds quite dismissive and judgmental. You don't have to be a victim of something terrible or have 'no love' to be an Atheist. Yet more of a christian labeling you with stereotypes to make themselves feel better and try to tear down your position by way of guilt. I hate to say it, but nothing you say to your mom will likely get her off your back or Knock a little reason in to her. I wish you luck!
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Comment by Gaytor on March 30, 2009 at 1:32pm -
Cara, I feel fortunate that my family accepts me. I am alone as a non-believer. Part of that is that I crush them on the subject of religion when they feel that need to discuss it. I do so from having read a plethora of books including the Bible. Skeptics Annotated Bible, Jesus Mysteries, 101 Myths of the Bible, etc. When you feel ready to take her on Biblically, Mark 9 Jesus said " I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." Jesus' prophecy has already failed in it's first claim. This is in each of the Gospels.
If she continues, you could hit her two other ways that has stopped people dead in their tracks for me. 2 John 10 "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him." if she's a "good Christian" and believes what she espouses she'll invite you to leave on the spot. Challenge her to the courage of her convictions.
Luke 12:53 families will be divided and Jesus started it so she should be thankful to her leader for this pain. I'm sure that there is good reason for it and she should accept it.
I don't know where you are with it, but a direct offensive assault using the idiocy of the Bible against Christians has always been my best weapon when I have been left with no recourse. Today we (my family) just don't fight because they know I have a Bible full of quotes and I am happy to discuss any subject in the Bible at any time.
I'm sorry for the difficulty you face here. I empathize but it might be time to educate yourself to know your opponent. Sometimes being polite shows potential acceptance and bolsters them further. If they can't compete on the subjects of the Bible they will feel inferior on the subject and the inner questions it poses makes them uncomfortable in seeking to engage you further.
Best of luck and if I can help let me know.
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Comment by Don on March 30, 2009 at 3:24pm -
Well on a positive note she seems to truly love you... Unfortunately religion has corrupted to love. I feel for ya, thankfully for me my family prefers to ignore it than deal with it. It might break her heart, and she may never like it, but eventually she'll respect it...hopefully, who knows.
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Comment by davesnothome on March 31, 2009 at 10:28pm -
It's really difficult for me to resist the temptation of launching into a tirade; there is so much here to respond to. For anyone that doesn't know, Cara if my beautiful and amazing daughter and there are many of us who could not possibly be prouder of her as an intelligent, curious, creative, and poetic genius of a woman/girl.
Seriously, no one has to even address most of this letter to you, it would be unkind to your mother for any of us to pick up all the loose arrows of shallow rhetoric and unfounded claims and to throw them back as logic and reason.
The only thing I want to respond to is the statement " 'I AM at the door!' You don't have time to look to the world for answers." You do have time, and you have the responsibility to find the answers that really are there. The universe is amazing and we have been lucky enough to explore it for a very short amount of time ---enjoy it! Never be afraid. I love you.
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Comment by Cara Coleen on March 31, 2009 at 10:44pm -
Yo Gaytor, thanks for the comment. I just want to clarify, though, that I am educating myself and this is why we're at this impasse. I know her side backwards and forwards, and I know "our" side almost as well and I haven't stopped researching and learning.
And, as an update, my response to this included an admission to complete non-belief. Now I'm just waiting for her reply.
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Comment by James on March 31, 2009 at 11:01pm
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Kudos on keping your education up. I too, try to read up on as much as I can.
It will be interesting to see what she says now that you admitted to be a total non-believer. Please keep us posted.
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