My Spiritual Journey

Dear friends,

I have been meaning to share something in my heart with you for some time. I hope you will not be uncomfortable with me for expressing my heart. I also hope you will read this letter in its entirety before passing any judgment. When we buy something fantastic, whether it’s a washing machine, car, or house, don’t we get excited about it? And let’s say if you have used that washing machine or that car for some time and you are really satisfied with what you have purchased, don’t you want to tell your friends about it? Is there anything wrong with that? After all, don’t you want your friends to also enjoy the benefits you are enjoying now? Don’t you think it’s completely normal to do that?

I believe that when it comes to spiritual topics, we should think the same way. What I’ve found is that we usually don’t want anyone to tell us about something they found very interesting about a spiritual or religious matter. They may be enjoying the benefits of the newfound truth and want us to enjoy it like them, but we are so adamant about not listening to them nor taking them seriously. I am not talking about blindly believing in what they say, but rather to give some thought to see if what they are saying makes any sense or not.

I would like to tell you something that makes my life so exciting and joyful. I would really like you to think about what I am about to say. My heart’s desire is that you also may find what I have found. But I would ask that you consider it and evaluate for yourself whether it’s worth pursuing.

I was born and brought up in Kerala, India, in a nominal religious family. We had Christians, Hindus, and Muslims in our village living very peacefully together. It was a routine ritual for my family to go to the church on Sunday mornings and on special occasions. I have never enjoyed the church services, but since it was the family custom, I didn’t want to break it, so I made myself available for whatever was the required minimum. I have never questioned whether there is a God out there or not. I knew without a doubt there exists a law of decent behavior (also known as the law of nature or the moral law). I reasoned that in order for this moral law to exist, there has to be a moral law giver (God). The reason I knew this for sure is because whenever I did something absolutely wrong, I knew I was not doing the right thing. Also, this moral law is so evident from our reactions when people treat us badly. We immediately call out that it’s not fair! Anytime we say “it’s not fair,” we are admitting that there is an objective standard out there. This objective standard cannot exist by itself as it has to be given to us by a higher being (God).

I have reasoned that in order for me to say there is no God absolutely, I must know for sure. For example, let us say that Jack is making a statement—“There are no elephants in Round Rock, TX (my hometown in the US).” In order for Jack to claim that statement as absolutely true, he had to absolutely make sure that there are no elephants in Round Rock. So when he made that statement, we can safely assume that Jack explored all of Round Rock and didn’t find any elephants. So when an atheist says there is no God, we can assume that the atheist has explored the whole universe and he or she is absolutely sure that there is no God! Since I cannot agree with that logically, I could not be an atheist. On the other hand, I see the principle of design everywhere. Anything that’s complex in nature requires a designer. Take a look at your house, car, pen, clothes, school, phone, computer—someone had to design all that. It didn’t come out of nothing. You can compare the most efficient computer that exists today with a human brain and find out that the human brain is much more efficient than the most efficient computer in the world. What does that tell you? If the most efficient computer in the world had to be designed, doesn’t that say that the human brain also had to be designed? So, logically, it was an easy process to arrive at this conclusion that God is the master designer and He created the universe and human beings. To summarize, I have listed two reasons why I believe that there is a higher power or an intelligent being out there who created mankind. The first reason was the fact that there is a moral law that exists and thus it requires a moral law giver. The second reason was that anything complex in nature requires an intelligent designer.

You may be asking, “So what?” It is true that God exists. Can we know Him? What kind of God is He? Is it a Christian God, Muslim God, Hindu God, etc.?

Growing up in Kerala was very interesting. I saw all kinds of religious people around our place. Christians say that the Bible is the true book; Muslims say that the Quran is the true book; Hindus say that Vedas, Ramayana, and Mahabharata are the true books. I was never interested in checking out any of these. We had a Bible in our home, but I never bothered to read it, other than a few passages here and there for the family rituals. While I was in high school (pre-degree at that time) at K E College, Kottayam, I read the whole Ramayana and Mahabharata just because I was fascinated with the stories. I had never seen a Quran while I was in Kerala. All I knew about Islam was that it’s very similar to Christianity. I had my own theories about how to live my life. I tried to live a life that’s pleasing to others. I have to say I was very successful in portraying a very good image of myself to others. But one thing I knew for sure was about the wickedness in my heart. I am so glad that people cannot see or hear what’s happening in our hearts. Aren’t you also glad about that? Imagine that there is a loudspeaker connected to our hearts and every thought is broadcasted out! I don’t think any of us would like that idea.

Since most people thought I was a good boy, I thought about myself that if there is a heaven out there, God will take me there because of my testimony with others. I had a comfort that no one can see my heart.

In 1988, our family migrated to the United States while I was doing my second year of Bachelors in Science in Physics at CMS College in Kottayam. Since all our cousins were in New York, we naturally settled in New York. I enrolled in the City University of New York to continue my education. At this time, since I had to support my family (parents and sisters), I did a few part-time jobs until I got a full-time job with the US Postal Service as a clerk. Since we belonged to a special sect of Catholicism called the Knanaya Catholic sect, we were naturally involved with the cultural activities related to this group. Soon after, I was chosen as the youth leader for this group. This was the time I was about to have a huge transformation in my life.

One of my friends who I met at the Post Office while working there shared a few things with me about Jesus. He said that Jesus is coming back. I was really surprised to hear that. I asked him how he knew that. He told me that all the details about His coming are written in the Bible. Somehow, his response caused a curiosity in my heart. I really wanted to find out more about the coming of Jesus. I started reading the Bible. After all, this is the book which is the basis of the faith I grew up with. Please do remember that I was thinking of myself as a considerably good person and if there is a heaven, I would be the first one who would go there. As I started to read the Bible, I noticed that the Bible claims that the human heart is like a graveyard. I also noticed that the Bible mentioned several times that all human beings are sinners and that they are born with a sinful nature. My comfort (that I am a good person because many people say good things about me) was slowly getting shattered as I read more. It was like someone showing me a mirror to reflect what’s in my heart. Upon further reading, I understood that Jesus made some wild claims while He was on the earth. He claimed that He was in the same nature of God, that He is the only way to God, and that He will die and rise again. I also understood that according to the Bible, no matter what kind of religion you are born into, in order to be a Christian, you have to be born again. Born again simply means that you have a clean start again in your life, spiritually. You are acknowledging that you are a sinner and you cannot be reconciled to God by your own works, but rather you accept what Christ has done (He died on the cross and rose on the third day) for you. You repent of your sins and start a new life where Christ is the center of your life. The conviction in my heart was very heavy, and I had to make a choice—either ignore what I have read and move on with my life or give my life to Christ and have a fresh start. I knew if I gave my life to Christ, that meant a change in my lifestyle.

I tried to find myself several reasons that this conviction in my heart could be just my feeling. I have often tried to find fault in my Christian friends (born-again Christians) and tried to justify myself saying, “Look, these guys professed to be Christians, but they are also doing some bad things as I have been doing.” I do have to acknowledge that some of these friends of mine at that time were real examples of Christ to me and thus helped me understand the real meaning of the Christian life.

I walked with this tug of war (whether to give my life to Christ or not) for about a year. Finally, it came to the point that I wanted to be done with the battle in my mind. One day, sometime in November of 1990, I gave my life completely to Jesus. It was then that I became a Christian in my heart.

I fell in love with the Bible as I believed that it is God’s Word. I remember keeping a compact Bible in my pocket while working at the US Postal Service as a clerk. Every time I got a 15-minute break, I picked it up and read and studied it. For me, it was making so much sense. The more I read, the more I understood what God’s plan is for me. Jesus provided the “peace that transcends all understanding,” and because of that, in spite of all the trials in my life, I was able to rejoice in Him.

As I have mentioned earlier, I was also attending college at this time. I had transferred from City College to Lehman College. (I also did a few semesters at the Westchester Community College, Valhalla, NY.) There at Lehman College, I met some Muslim friends. They started asking me questions about my faith. Until this time, I was content with my faith because it was so real to me. Now that I am hearing about other religions and their claims, I started thinking again. Until this time, all my experiences were “subjective,” meaning I felt those, and so they were true. But I realized that Muslims (and people in other religions also) claim their own “subjective” experiences as true. Just like I say Jesus provides me strength, they say Allah (or Krishna/Vishnu/Brahma for Hindus) provides them strength. So I started questioning everything, including my faith. It seems like every religion claims that they have the absolute truth. Can they all be true at the same time? How could I say that my “subjective” experience (Jesus gives me strength) is superior to a Muslim’s or Hindu’s subjective experience? I was in a predicament where I was not sure what I believed (that Jesus is the only way to God) was absolutely true or not. This is where I started to seriously explore the claims of the major religions in the world.

One thing I clearly understood was the law of non-contradiction (e.g., a table cannot be both made entirely of wood and not made entirely of wood). We apply this every day in our lives. So I have applied the law of non-contradiction to the religions. It was very easy to conclude that these major religions cannot all be true at the same time. Christianity and Islam portray God as a “Personal” God (Monotheism), but according to Hinduism, God is not personal but rather without any attributes. Hinduism is rooted in Pantheism (All is God, God is in everything), which contradicts Monotheism. Christianity proclaims the resurrection of believers (you die once and then rise for either heaven or hell), while Hinduism offers reincarnation. These two concepts are diametrically opposite and cannot be true at the same time, however much you wanted it to be true. Christianity claims that Jesus is the only way to God, but Hinduism and Islam deny that. Christians believe that God is a Triune being (One being, three persons), but according to Islam, it’s a very serious sin to believe that. Christians believe that Jesus is God, but Muslims believe that Jesus is just a prophet. So as you can see, it’s impossible for someone to say that all these religions are true at the same time. (Of course, like I have mentioned earlier, you can believe anything you want whether it makes sense or not.) I have often thought of an illustration about this. Jack says that the capital of the United States is Austin, TX; Mike says no, it’s Washington, DC; Andrew says the capital of the US is Seattle, WA. We all know that in this case Mike is right. And if Mike is right, that means Jack and Andrew are wrong. Imagine David says, “I think all of them are right.” What would you think about David’s statement? I think David has no idea what Mike, Jack, or Andrew is saying. David just wants to play the nice guy. I think you get the point.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that all the teachings of these religions are false. I know for sure every religion teaches certain good things. I am questioning the claim that any of them possess the absolute truth.

So I have started to analyze the claims of these religions:

1. Christianity – Claims that there was a man called Jesus who lived around 30 AD in Israel. He had a miraculous birth and performed several miracles, claimed that He was in the same nature of God, claimed that He will die and rise again; He is the one and only way to God. On the third day after His death, the tomb was empty, and His disciples claimed that they have seen the risen Jesus. Human beings are created in the image of God and they are moral beings, which distinguish them from animals. Due to the sin of Adam and Eve (first human beings), we all have inherited the sinful nature. Jesus’ death reconciled us to God. His resurrection validates His claims.

2. Hinduism – God is in everything. Considers Jesus as one among the millions of small gods. Life is in a cycle (reincarnation). There is not much difference between humans and animals.

3. Islam – God revealed some special revelation to Muhammad, who lived around 600 AD (570 AD to 632 AD) in Saudi Arabia. According to Islam, Muhammad is the Seal of all previous Prophets. The Quran supersedes all previous revelations. Muslims claim that the Quran itself is the evidence that it has to be from God.

As you can see, logically, it’s impossible for all these religions to be true at the same time. If Jesus is right, that means the core teachings of Hinduism and Islam are wrong; if Hinduism is right, that means Christianity and Islam are wrong; if Islam is right, that means Christianity and Hinduism are wrong. So what should we do? If you are a truth seeker, you should see if any of these religions’ claims are objectively verifiable. In other words, besides the subjective evidences (Hindus, Muslims, and Christians say their God/gods give them strength), is there any objective truth in their claims? Subjective claims are not clearly verifiable. For example, when a Christian says he feels like Jesus is helping him keep from doing sin, that could be true for him, but it’s impossible for another person to verify (the source). That person’s life may be a good example to validate his subjective claim, but when a Hindu also has an exemplary life, that could mean that the Hindu’s subjective claim is also true. But as we have seen before, since these religions contradict each other, we really need more than just the “subjective” evidence to validate the claims.

One way to resolve this issue is to ignore all of these and live any way you want to live. But please do remember that, if any of these claims are right, you will have to face the eternal consequences of your choice, whether good or bad. My advice is to always spend some time and energy to research these claims, and if you come to the conclusion that none of these claims make any sense, then go ahead and live the life any way you want.

I had looked at the claims of these religions, and here is the conclusion I have come to. One of the issues with Hinduism is that it’s missing any “objective” claims. There are no historical references in Hinduism. For example, when you read Mahabharata or Ramayana, you can’t really refer to those events (e.g., Rama went to Lanka to free Sita) to any time frame (as opposed to Christianity and Islam where the events are happening at a time we can refer to). Even though there are good concepts in Hinduism, it lacks the objectivity for verification. Also, there are some serious objections to the teaching of reincarnation. If life goes in cycles, when did it start? If I am paying for my previous life, what did I pay for the very first life I had?

In Islam, there are objective claims such as that Muhammad is the Seal of all prophets and that the Quran is the Revelation from God. Here are the issues I have encountered with those claims. We all know that there was a person called Muhammad who lived around 600 AD and he claimed that he received a special revelation from God. My question is, how do you know for sure that what Muhammad said is correct? I have no way of verifying his claims other than blindly believing in what he says. Muslims say that the Quran itself is the evidence that Muhammad received this revelation from God. They claim that the Quran (in its original form—Arabic) is the most wonderful book that ever existed in this world. If you want to verify this claim, they say you need to read the Quran in Arabic. This would mean that even if that claim is true, only the “Arabic-trained” people can know this truth. I have not seen anyone other than Muslims consider the Quran as the “most beautiful” piece of literature in the world. So again, we are left with nothing that we can objectively verify from the claims of Islam. Remember, anyone can come up with any claim. But claiming is one thing, and validating (backing up) the claims is another thing. I do not see anything that validates the claims of Muhammad. Another interesting fact about Islam I have noticed is this: In Sura 4:157, the Quran says that Jesus neither was killed nor crucified. Muhammad is claiming this as a fact supposedly given to him by God. The problem is that this contradicts the well-attested fact that has already been established in history—that Jesus died on the cross (note that you don’t even need the Bible to claim that the death of Jesus on the cross is a historical fact). Consider this example: Jack says (in 2011) he got a revelation from God that the attack on Pearl Harbor never happened in 1941. What could we say about this new fact or revelation? Unless Jack comes up with some unique evidence to support this new revelation, who is going to believe him?

Christianity also has a serious claim—that Jesus Christ is raised from the dead. The Bible doesn’t mention the resurrection of Jesus as a story but as “an actual event” that happened. So if that is (Jesus’ resurrection from the dead) true, that means He has validated His claims by doing a phenomenal miracle which never happened before or after. That gives a lot of weight to His claims. If the resurrection of Jesus is true, whatever He said must have been true. He claimed that He is the Son of God (in the same nature of God), He claimed that He is the only way to God, etc. And of course, if we follow that logic, if Jesus is true, the absolute claims of Islam and Hinduism are wrong.

But there is a problem. How do we know that the resurrection actually happened? I know that the Bible says it happened, but does that mean it really happened? Are we to just blindly believe what the Bible says? If that’s the case, the Quran must be true too. If we start with the logic that “this holy book (any holy book) says it’s true, so the contents of it must be true,” we must believe that the Hindu Scriptures, the Quran, and the Bible are true. We have already seen that it’s against the law of non-contradiction.

Maybe we can ask this question: Can the resurrection of Jesus be scientifically proved? If that’s the case, it will be easy to show that Jesus is the true God. But can we actually prove the resurrection scientifically? At this point, we need to make a distinction between science and history. Science is something that can be proved because it is repeatable and observable. For example, Jack says H₂ + O = water. Mike says he doesn’t believe that. All Jack has to do is take Mike to a lab and do the experiment as many times as Mike wants. So science can be proven.

How about history? Can we prove history? Can anyone prove that World War I started in 1914? I am sure your answer is yes. But think more. Can you really prove that? Jack says WW I started in 1914. Mike says he doesn’t think so. What can Jack do? Certainly, Jack cannot take Mike to a lab this time. Jack can come up with several pieces of evidence. But Mike can look at all that evidence and still not be convinced that WW I started in 1914. Mike can say all those pieces of evidence are not credible. The only way to prove anything in history is to go back to it in real time, which is not possible at all.

Do you see the point I am trying to make? History cannot be proven. Anything that happened in the past is history and cannot be proven as it does not repeat. Yes, you can bring evidence and, based on the evidence, we can make the best probable conclusion. That’s how history works. In other words, when we deal with history, “everything is possible, but not everything is probable.” Is it possible that WW I started in 1911? Of course, yes. Is it probable that WW I started in 1911? Very unlikely, as there is an abundance of evidence pointing to the probability of it starting in 1914. So Mike still can “choose” to believe that WW I started in 1911 in spite of all the evidence out there. But all the evidence demands a conclusion that it’s highly probable that WW I started in 1914. As you probably know, this is how our court system works. In any court case, the jury examines all possible evidence and comes up with the “best probable” (not the best possible) conclusion.

So when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, it’s important to keep in mind that we are talking about a “historical event,” not a scientific event. So just like any other historical event, the resurrection also cannot be proven. But just like any other historical events, we can always take a look at the evidence for it and make the best probable conclusion.

As I have mentioned earlier, we cannot assume that the Bible (or the Quran or the Ramayana/Mahabharata/Vedas) is true to begin with. But can we take the Bible (particularly the New Testament, which talks about the resurrection) as any ancient historical document? You probably have heard many people say that the Bible was written 2000 years ago by some people and it’s been copied and copied, and we cannot rely on it as we do not have the originals of the Bible with us now. In other words, the argument is that what they wrote in the first century is not what we have today.

Just for a moment, let us examine how we get history from the past. Most of us have studied a little bit of Roman history. I am 100% sure that you all believe that Julius Caesar was murdered by Brutus. Have you heard any history professor deny that statement? Here is my question—how do we know for sure that Julius Caesar was murdered by Brutus? We get that from the books written in that time frame. Today, we learn Roman history as “history” because of the few books written around the first century. Here are some examples: Julius Caesar wrote “Gallic Wars” somewhere around 40 BC. Tacitus wrote the “Annals of Rome” approximately around 100 AD. We get most of the Roman history from these books. How did they write the books in those days? Obviously, they didn’t have nice paper and printers back then. They wrote mostly on papyrus scrolls—a material that doesn’t last long. So the scrolls have to be copied and copied. As we all know, the originals of any of these books never survived. We have today, in the museums, the copies of these books dated from around 900 AD. And about 15 of those copies (dated from 900 AD) are in existence today. So what does that tell us? The gap between the original copy and the earliest copy we have today is approximately 900 years! Yet, do you see any history professor going around and making statements like “we really cannot believe that Julius Caesar was killed by Brutus”? Instead, we all take it for granted. This is the reality we have to deal with concerning anything in history before better methods of preserving the originals were invented. In spite of the lack of originals and only the few copies that exist today, we simply take it for granted that “what the historians wrote then is what we have today.”

Let us apply the same method to the New Testament (written in Greek as it was the official written language of that time frame), which was also written just before 100 AD. Obviously, just like any other ancient books, the New Testament also does not have the originals. Today, you can see for yourself that there are about 5800 Greek manuscripts (copies) in the museums. Today, we have several manuscripts of the whole New Testament dated from around 250 AD in the museums. That means the gap between the original written date and the date of the earliest available copy is less than 200 years! What does that tell you? It doesn’t definitely tell you that the contents of the New Testament are true. But it tells you one thing—the New Testament is historically reliable—that means “what they wrote is what we have now.” In other words, if you want to throw the New Testament out as historically unreliable, then you would have to throw the entire Roman history out too! When it comes to the number of copies and the gap, none of the ancient literatures can even come anywhere close to the New Testament regarding its textual reliability.

Being historically reliable doesn’t necessarily mean that the contents of the New Testament are true. All we get from the above method is that what the authors of the New Testament wrote in the first century is what we have today. Let us take a close look at the New Testament. In the first four books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the authors are telling us about a man called Jesus who had a miraculous birth, performed several miracles, claimed that He is the Son of God, claimed that He will be crucified and will rise from the dead. They all say that on the third day after His death, the tomb was empty. They all say that they have seen the risen Christ.

These disciples were not the highest class of people of their time but rather were part of the lower society (fishermen, tax collectors, etc., with the exception of Luke, who was a doctor). Apparently, they wrote this as eyewitnesses or as having interviewed the eyewitnesses. Remember what we have learned about history: All things are possible, but not all things are probable. It’s very possible that these authors are lying. Is it probable? Let us examine what could have been the logical reasons for them (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) to lie, if they did. Have they gained money or fame? Not at all. In fact, they were all poor. None of them became famous in their lifetimes. Did they protect themselves or others? Not at all. Almost all of them were martyred because of what they believed and preached (that Jesus is risen). So if we cannot find a logical reason for them lying, that leads us to assume that they are telling the truth as they saw. All four Gospels tell us that the tomb was empty on the third day. It’s an un-debated subject in the history of the world whether the tomb was empty or not. So the big question is, “What happened to the body of Christ?”

Remember that all things are possible. So there are several possibilities for explaining the empty tomb. Maybe the disciples came and stole His body? That’s certainly possible, but is that probable? These disciples were afraid and very unlikely to go near the tomb with that intention. Also, remember that there were Roman guards at the tomb. Let us imagine that somehow they managed to sneak into the tomb and steal the body of Christ. If that’s true, the disciples now have the body of Jesus in their hands. So now they are preaching that Jesus is risen. They know for sure that what they are preaching is a lie. The Roman soldiers come with swords and say that they will kill them if they continue to spread this news (that Jesus is risen). Do you think the disciples will die for this? People may die for what they think to be true, as we see this every day in our lives (9/11 terrorists, Jim Jones followers, etc.). But have you seen anyone die for something that they know for sure is a lie?

So while it’s possible that the disciples stole the body of Christ, it’s not at all probable. How about the possibility of Jewish people stealing the body of Christ? That’s also possible. So let us say the disciples are preaching that Christ is risen; all that the Jewish people have to do is bring the body of Christ, and that would have been the end of Christianity! So it is very improbable that the Jewish people stole the body of Christ. After all, they are the ones who gave the money to the Roman guards to spread the story that the disciples stole the body.

One of the possible explanations of the empty tomb is that Jesus is risen, as the Gospel authors claim. They claim that at one time 500 people saw Him. They give several incidents where the risen Christ appeared to them. The sudden change in their lives is very good evidence that something profound happened to them. These were a group of cowards, and all of a sudden, they started preaching very boldly, even to the point of death. These (the disciples) were ardent Jews who followed the Jewish customs and traditions. Now they no longer follow these laws (Sabbath, sacrificial system, etc.) that are very important to any Jew. How can we explain this change? The only logical reason for this radical change in the lives of these disciples is that they have seen the risen Jesus!

When you look at the evidence, it’s very probable that Jesus is risen! If He is risen, then He is the only one who has ever done that, and that means His claims are true. If He is risen, then whatever He said must be true, and thus the Bible is true. You see that I have not started with the argument that the Bible is true; rather, I have arrived at that conclusion based on logic and reason.

Do you remember I mentioned earlier about the subjective experience? I said that subjective experience alone cannot validate a truth claim. The resurrection of Jesus is an objective reality. So only in the Christian faith can you see the correlation of the subjective faith to an objective reality. In Hinduism and Islam, we do have subjective experiences, but those do not correlate to any objective realities.

If Jesus is true, then Hinduism and Islam must be wrong. Again, I want to emphasize, to say something is wrong doesn’t necessarily mean disrespect. I do respect all my Muslim friends and Hindu friends. They are very dear to my heart. My love for them is not based on whether they agree with me 100% or not. In fact, if you accuse me of disrespecting you because I say that your religion is wrong, aren’t you doing the same thing to me?

You may be asking, so what? My dear friends, if what Jesus said is true, then we all have to face some eternal consequences. The Bible says we are all born in sinful nature because of the original sin that is the result of Adam and Eve sinning. This is so easy for us to observe, as I have shared earlier about the condition of my heart. For those of you who have kids, you know exactly what I am talking about. I have five kids, and I didn’t have to teach any of them how to cheat, disobey, lie, envy, covet, and so on! But I had to teach them (still teaching) how to behave in a good way. I am sure this is true for every parent. Where did they get all this sinful behavior? Has anyone taught our two-year-old kids how to be jealous? If you are honest, you would agree with me about the true condition of our hearts.

The Bible also says that the wages of sin is eternal death (hell). This means that if we die, we will be facing this eternal hell. There is no way a sinner like you and I can fellowship with the absolutely perfect Holy God.

But God loved us so much that He wanted to make a way for us. He is a God of Justice and Love. His justice demands that a sinner must be punished (otherwise He is not a good judge). His Love demands that a sinner should be given a second chance (otherwise He is not a Loving God). His Justice and Mercy met on the cross of Calvary. Jesus paid for all of our sins. By doing that, God has opened a way for all of us to come to Him. His desire is that “all of us” choose that way. But He is a gentle God, and He will not push you and me. He has given us a free will to choose. So today, if you are reading this, He is asking you to consider this opportunity of reconciliation with Him. All you have to do is this: acknowledge that you are a sinner (get rid of the mask), repent (turn around), and make Jesus your Lord and Savior. He wants to rule in your heart. He wants to give you a new life—an abundant life in Him. He wants to give you the peace that passes all understanding. You may be struggling with a lot of things in your heart, but He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Will you do that?

As you can see, God never pushes anyone to hell, but if we are adamant about staying on our “own” course to go to hell, He will not prevent that. So no one will be able to blame God for sending them to hell, as we all have a choice to take the exit and follow God’s way.

That is the reason, my friend, I am a Christian. A Christian doesn’t mean he never sins; rather, he never dwells on his mistakes, and he is honest about his mistakes. Transparency is the keyword in Christianity. A Christian is a person who has made a covenant with Jesus Christ (as I have explained in the passage above). He is born “spiritually” when he has made that covenant with Jesus. Just like babies grow naturally, a “Christian” also grows every day. His life is an overcoming life. He is learning how to overcome this world every day. The best thing about the Christian life is that it’s not just that you are trying to live a good life, but rather it’s the learning process with Jesus. Jesus is with him all the time. Another very important fact is that a Christian has the assurance that he will be with Jesus in Heaven whenever he dies. That’s why Christians are not afraid of death.

Friends, I hope you can see my heart. I am writing this purely out of love for you. I hope and pray that if you are reading this, you will take this seriously and invest some effort to verify what I have been saying makes any sense or not. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions. My contact information is: benoyjames@hotmail.com.

Thanks for taking time to read this!

Benoy