Keep searching John, God has more for you to learn

Dear John Thorpe,
Thank you.
Thank you for concerning yourself enough about religion to force people to think about what they believe.
Thank you for exploring your own beliefs and giving your opinions to the public to ponder.
I truly enjoy reading your work.
I have also truly enjoyed reading the many letters to the editor that have poured in since you wrote your column ‘Extremists take true meaning out of religion.’
This was a nice follow-up to your article concerning your idea of the deity of Dave Matthews.
However far out that idea may have been, it still showed some exploration and investigation.
I cannot say that I agree with you, though.
I have read many letters to the editor describing in great words the ideas that I myself would like to express.
So I will not write this column (or internal letter to the editor) to defend my beliefs, God or Christians.
God can do that.
God does not need to be defended.
He is God and He can make himself quite clear to you if you truly desire to see Him.
I also do not need to defend why I have trusted Jesus as my Lord.
I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else.
I will simply state that I do trust Jesus to be the only way to God and I am convinced of that by the relationship I have in accordance with the Holy Spirit.
I also will not defend Christians, that is those people with a true relationship with the Lord Jesus.
I will, however, admit that there are certain people who go under the flag of Christianity but have no real relationship with Jesus.
But for those who do, I will not defend us.
We are washed in the blood of Jesus and the Bible and the Holy Spirit confirms our right place with God.
We have been forgiven of all sin and unrighteousness and have been given holiness and righteousness.
That does not mean, however, that we no longer sin.
We do go against the will of God.
Your problem seems to be two-fold.
One, you don’t seem to believe one can know the will of God.
Two, even if someone does know the will of God, you see hypocrisy.
You’re partly right.
The will of God can be known through the Bible and through the Holy Spirit’s discernment.
However, there is hypocrisy.
I personally have displayed it.
When I was a freshman here, I dedicated my life to the Lord.
I was so fired up about meeting God that I wanted everyone to know Him.
Once you meet God, you will never be the same.
His loving Spirit, grace and mercy cannot be equaled.
Because of my passion, I acted out sometimes because of my love for Him.
Once a fellow who lived across the hall from me incited me by calling the Bible a ‘book of fables.’
That upset me and hurt me.
He was calling my God and my best friend’s love letter to me a myth.
Instead of seeking God, I spoke out.
I yelled at him and told him he was going to hell.
Looking back I see now that although God loved my heart’s desire for Him, he did not appreciate my style of delivery.
Another time, this same person spoke poorly of my family’s roots in West Virginia and was calling my grandma ‘white trash.’
Again, I acted out and kicked him in the shin.
It was the same type of deal.
I loved my grandmother so much that I desired nothing bad to be spoken of her.
She was the sweetest lady I had ever known.
Again, God was pleased with my love and passion for her, but not with the result or action of my desire.
So let me apologize on behalf of myself and all of my fellow Christians (the body of Christ) for any lack of quality judgment we may have used.
For any time we have gone against the will of God, accept my apology.
Although we are forgiven, we are not perfect.
Apart from the Holy Spirit’s workings we are selfish sinners.
So John, thank you for searching.
But don’t quit searching.
Jesus loves you.
He loves you intensely.
Take a real look at the life of Jesus, how he lived always for the will of the Father.
He said, “I do nothing apart from what the Father tells me.”
Jesus displayed publicly His love for you by dying on a cross, taking all your sin and rising again to conquer it.
That’s perfection.
Greater love has none than this: to lay down his life for you.
Jesus killed no one.
Instead, He allowed Himself to be killed, so that you might live.