Dear "God-guided" Pious Bob,
I pray for the person who wrote you the comment putting down your faith in God. In doing so it made me think of how sad it is that there are people out there that don't have anyone to pray to. Surely they don't pray to themselves, or maybe they do. I can't imagine my life without anyone to pray to or anyone to trust with my life and death. I've gone through a divorce and lost both of my parents in the last five years. I certainly couldn't have made it without someone I could pray to and trust in, because I certainly lost control. I guess I could have done a better job in trying to keep my marriage together, but no matter how hard I tried, my husband's unfaithfulness and verbal abuse continued. I had to trust in God. Knowing that my mom and dad were together in God's Eternal Kingdom gave me peace. I continue to pray for your non-believing commentor.  Please keep up your good work for our Lord!

God's Blessings to you.

Charlotte M.

 

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Dear Charlotte,

Your sensitivity, concern and prayers for the condition of the negative commentor is admirable.  As you said, it is hard to imagine life without someone to pray to, to connect with, to fully trust in as we make this life's journey.  Especially in knowing that we are God's children for eternity.  When we turn to Him in this natural life, we can experience the joy of eternal life as we live out our lives here.  The key for us is the "turning to Him".  As children of God, he seeks us and wants us to turn to Him, but we can certainly shut Him out if our desire to control and our egos override our seeking.  Your praying for the negative anonymous commentor is certainly a way of helping that person.  Who knows, their view of life and God's part in it may change through your prayers even though the person may never know it.  Once the person lets go and lets God, however, they will realize how intricate life in God through Christ really is and feel the power of your prayer.

God's Best to you,

Pious Bob     

Dear misguided Pious Bob, Marx said religion is the opium of the people. He hit the nail on the head. We are who we are to make the best of life that we can. We have no super being help in life. As far as christianity is concerned, that is just fancied up opium with a new flavor. Islam and other religions come from the same place. They all get the people hooked on the religion drug and then use it to control them. Christianity didn't succeed and grow because it is real. The Romans finally saw it as a way of controlling people and that's how the pope & the vatican got going. Spend your time on something real and stop bothering people.  Anonymous

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Dear Anonymous,
I attended a Christian funeral today.  I witnessed rememberance, love, comfort to those that mourned and a trust in a creator God that made everyone's life and thoughts of death and their own death a celebration.  You would call this a drug induced event.  I would call it a loving God using everyone attending, and even those who couldn't make it, as His conduits of love and grace to each of them.  And in doing so, receiving His mortal child back to him, just as He received Jesus back to Him.  The life and death of Jesus wasn't fancied up opium, but a way God communicated with His children to assure them a better life and a place in eternity with Him.  This gift is recognized and witnessed to by many today and has been throughout history as God continues to reveal His Love & Grace to the world.  However, there is a catch to all of this.  If you are not seeking and or listening to our loving Father as you experience this gift of life that He has given us, you are taking yourself out of this blessing by ignoring it.  How God relates to and deals with those who don't and won't seek Him in their lives is His business, not mine.  Making this choice to ignore and deny Him is your choice, not His.  Ultimately, our choices in this gift of life do matter and sometimes cause us and God a good deal of pain.  Sorry to bother you.
In His Love,
Pious Bob  

Dear Pious Bob,
Thanks for creating this blog. Your last posting made me reflect on my own belief in God and the "anchors" that hold me in the storms of my life.  While I have had much suffering, somehow God redeems my suffering in some way that gives me hope. Of course, a belief in eternal life with God certainly helps us get through this life. I look forward to more conversations on this Blog.
God Bless,
Anonymous

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Dear Anonymous,

Yes, there is a tension between living this natural life with the things that happen to us and those around us and the idea of eternal life with God.  Something to consider, as we contemplate these things, is our role in all of this.  That as creations/children of God we are part of how He works His way in wanting us to know Him and help Him in this world.  As potential vessels of His Love & Grace, He uses us when we allow Him to fill us up.  This is where His Redeeming Power & Grace works its wonders and we can play a role in that if we are open to it.  When we can reach a point in our lives where we trust God in all things, our eternal life with Him becomes more clear and our worries begin to disappear.

Thanks and God's Best to you,

Pious Bob







Dear Pious Bob,
I believe there is something in our universe that connects all humanity, but I'm not sure if it is a creator spirit that is involved in our daily living. Nor am I sure that humans can go and be with that spirit after we leave these mortal bodies. My confusion bothers me and keeps me from achieving a sound faith.
Thank You,
Confused in the Spirit

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Dear Confused in the Spirit,

You are not alone in your confusion. Our faith in a Creator God is in great part a mystery to us. We have the life of Christ depicted in the New Testament and the belief in one God by the Hebrew people as described in the Old Testament. Jesus, of course, came out of this tradition and turned it upside down as the Son of Man and the Son of God. His message of love and forgiveness bolsters our faith in God. In his letter to the Romans 8:24-25, St. Paul declares,

"²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes^* for what is seen?²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

The choice for a believer is to make the commitment to be patient and faithful with a strong hope.        
God's Best,                                                                                      Pious Bob