His reply:
Heh…I’ve definitely learned a lot from talking with you…Certainly more things to consider in my own quest to find what I truly believe in. I doubt I’ll wind up with Christianity, but it makes a lot more sense when it’s explained that way. You’re also probably the most intelligent person I’ve found on this site, at least in a very long time. That definitely makes me respect you, even though I disagree with you on half the things that have been brought up. But it’s still better than pretty much everybody else I’ve seen, who can only come up with “God exists!” as their argument…
Mine:
Let’s just say that my first run in with Christianity left me in a place where I trusted no one and believed in no God. This time, it’s not me who saved myself but God who save me from myself. As I’ve said before – my faith isn’t built on the shaky foundations of hearsay but on careful research into what the other religions can offer. When I understood myself to be the man that I know that I’m capable of I have seen the depravity and cursedness that the Bible speaks of. From there to falling flat on my face asking for forgiveness isn’t that much of a stretch. From then to where I am today is simply acting out the faith that God has planted into my life. I don’t “preach” to gain favor of man nor to gain for myself righteousness as the first is built alone on foolish pride and the second makes me God and removes the glory of my salvation from Jesus and places it on myself for my own actions – I do what I do to teach others as much as I can and I hope its enough to get you or anyone else to understand where I’m coming from. My worst fear is that you’ll pass into eternity without salvation but I’m not going to lie to you or change the message to make it more palatable to your desires or your “felt needs” (read: wants). You deserve far better than that.