Questions for Christians

[Chrisv]

Ok AAA,

Time to find some common ground. There are three facts of life that nobody can dispute:
1. We are all going to die one day,
2. Generally you do not know when it is going to happen
3. Once you died you are going to be dead a lot longer than you where alive

If you look at this scientifically there is no conclusive proof regarding the existence or non existence of ongoing consciousness after death, so both possibilities must be considered.

We can agree on this, right?

Have you ever researched something called NDE (Near Death Experiences)? Google "NDE" and do some research. Now there are lots of testimonies about people that had some kind of experience after they where clinically dead. What they experienced is not of importance here (although it is interesting to note how many testimonies of people of different backgrounds and countries had the same type of experience) but the fact that they had consciousness after they died,THAT is of importance.

Now, if even the remotest possibility exist of consciousness after death, and we are going to be dead a loooong time. In my books, that justifies a very careful investigation of the possibility of a afterlife.

Do you agree up to this point?

 

[AAA]

Time to find some common ground. There are three facts of life that nobody can dispute:
1. We are all going to die one day,
2. Generally you do not know when it is going to happen
3. Once you died you are going to be dead a lot longer than you where alive

I agree, and I would add that this frightening concept is undoubtedly a strong reason to explain why humans have been inventing comforting fairy tales that permit them to avoid these very facts for millenia. If you are born in Mumbai, you are likely to be indoctrinated into believing one such fairy tale, while if you are born in Tel Aviv, or Dubai, you are likely to be indoctrinated into believing another one. I see no reason to believe that Christianity is anything more than such a fairy tale.

If you look at this [intellectually honestly] there is no conclusive proof regarding the existence or non existence of ongoing consciousness after death, so both possibilities must be considered.

We can agree on this, right?

Yup. I would also add that we must consider the possibility of reincarnation, as well as the possibility that we become gods that rule our own universes...I could think of a hundred other possibilities that are not conclusively proven or disproven that we could consider. I wouldn't bother wasting any of my time considering any of them, since there is no way to investigate the possibilities. There is no way to prove or falsify any of the possibilities. These possibilities do not allow us to make any testable predictions. What a waste of time.

Have you ever researched something called NDE (Near Death Experiences)? Google "NDE" and do some research. Now there are lots of testimonies about people that had some kind of experience after they where clinically dead. What they experienced is not of importance here (although it is interesting to note how many testimonies of people of different backgrounds and countries had the same type of experience) but the fact that they had consciousness after they died,THAT is of importance.

I don't see how it could be. "Death" in these situations is invariably defined as pulselessness, usually due to ventricular fibrillation. Once its blood supply stops, it only takes a few minutes before irreversible brain damage occurs, but It takes many minutes, possibly hours for the entire brain to die. Since the available data suggests that consciousness is the product of a functioning brain, I don't see anything interesting at all about the fact that people report experiences during the time when their brains are clearly still very much alive, though their circulation has temporarily been stopped.

Now, if even the remotest possibility exist of consciousness after death, and we are going to be dead a loooong time. In my books, that justifies a very careful investigation of the possibility of a afterlife.

Do you agree up to this point?

No, for the reasons I've stated above. Not unless you can show me how one can investigate the possibility of consciousness after brain death.

 

[Chrisv]

Have you ever researched something called NDE (Near Death Experiences)? Google "NDE" and do some research. Now there are lots of testimonies about people that had some kind of experience after they where clinically dead. What they experienced is not of importance here (although it is interesting to note how many testimonies of people of different backgrounds and countries had the same type of experience) but the fact that they had consciousness after they died,THAT is of importance.

I don't see how it could be. "Death" in these situations is invariably defined as pulselessness, usually due to ventricular fibrillation. Once its blood supply stops, it only takes a few minutes before irreversible brain damage occurs, but It takes many minutes, possibly hours for the entire brain to die. Since the available data suggests that consciousness is the product of a functioning brain, I don't see anything interesting at all about the fact that people report experiences during the time when their brains are clearly still very much alive, though their circulation has temporarily been stopped.

No AAA,
I asked if you investigated NDE, and from your answer it is obvious you did not. If you went to the least bit of trouble you would have seen that there are numerous cases of people being dead for long periods of time (up to 5 days) and they came back with no brain damage!

There are also medically proven cases of people being brain dead and yet they came back with no ill effects with a testimony of conciousness after the doctors declared them brain dead.

Now, if even the remotest possibility exist of consciousness after death, and we are going to be dead a loooong time. In my books, that justifies a very careful investigation of the possibility of a afterlife.

Do you agree up to this point?

No, for the reasons I've stated above. Not unless you can show me how one can investigate the possibility of consciousness after brain death.

How about the fact that numerous people after medically proven dead, came back and could recount conversations and confirm objects that where used after they where pronouced dead, in other places than the room they where in?

 

[AAA]

If you went to the least bit of trouble you would have seen that there are numerous cases of people being dead for long periods of time (up to 5 days) and they came back with no brain damage!

First of all, I don't know why anyone would call this a near-death experience rather than a resurrection. Please provide a link to a peer-reviewed publication verifying a resurrection. Note: a book written by an individual will not suffice; anyone can publish a book about anything.

Secondly, the least bit of trouble can also disclose numerous sightings of sasquatch, numerous cases of alien abduction, and numerous healings by a man named Benny Hinn... any number of outlandish claims really. What are we to make of all these claims that can be found with the least bit of trouble? How do we decide what to believe?

How about the fact that numerous people after medically proven dead, came back and could recount conversations and confirm objects that where used after they where pronouced dead, in other places than the room they where in?

A link to a single peer-reviewed publication would be a good start.

 

[Chrisv]

Try http://www.iands.org
Call it what you want, the fact remains that there are multiple medically confirmed accounts of people experiencing conciousness after they where declared brain dead.

And there is non religious, independant medical research that proves it!

The question is if you will have the courage to admit it, and then just maybe, consider that Christianity might have some answers?

 

[AAA]

The link you provided is not to a peer reviewed publication verifying a resurrection or an instance where "numerous people after medically proven dead, came back and could recount conversations and confirm objects that where used after they where pronouced dead, in other places than the room they where in". I'm still waiting for those based on your prior claims.

The problem here is that "brain death", as it seems to be defined in NDE's, means a flat EEG, or a condition where an EEG would be predicted to be flat (the latter is usually cardiac arrest as I described earlier). This does not indicate that the brain cells have died (which takes considerably longer than it takes for the EEG to flatline), so there is no good reason to believe that the NDE is not produced by a brain populated by living cells as it loses or recovers function.

As an analogy, an organ used for transplant could be removed from the donor, stop functioning, but stay very much alive (its cells remain alive), and then resume functioning once more normal physiologic conditions return in the recipient. If we imagined the organ in this analogy to be a brain, the removed brain would have a flat EEG, but its neurones would be alive. As they regain function in the recipient, then an NDE could be experienced on purely material grounds.

So there is nothing I've come across in the NDE literature (abstracts from Pubmed) that proves (or even strongly indicates) that NDEs are due to consciousness that survives the irreversible death of a brain.

But even if there was, how could that possibly indicate the truth of Christianity as opposed to the truth of Islam, or any of the thousands of myths that once animated people to believe in afterlives?

 

[Brother Lionel]

Well kiddo -

To Answer your question, regardless if anyone wants to admit it or not, Christianity has a deep dark history. There are many, many denominations but the truth is that there are two forms of Christianity - True Christianity and False Christianity.

True Christianity is about love, peace, and forgiveness

False Christianity is shrouded in deception, error, and hate.

The ultimate "litmus test" if you will, is the Holy Bible. Quite frankly, if a religion, denomination, or sect is living by all of the principles of the bible, nine times out of ten the world will treat them as outsiders and will call them a cult. Conversley, if a religion, denomination, or sect is not living by all of the principles of the bible, then more than likely, that group or organization is "highly esteemed" amoung men. Jesus stated that the things which are highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. He also stated that we should "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." So, as Christv stated, Christianity is very simple and people complicate it with man made philosophy. So if you're serious about this, pray to God to give you direction, study the bible and study history so you wont repeat the mistakes of those came before you.

 

[Chrisv]

Tell me AAA,

I see you've been coming to this forum for a while now. Just to satisfy my curiosity, if you are convinced you are correct in your opinion, why did you choose to participate in a forum about Christianity?

I mean, if you are convinced that Christianity is a joke, why waste your time debating it?

 

[AAA]

As I wrote earlier in this thread:

I remain open to reasons to believe. Until I find some, I remain keen to challenge the beliefs of believers (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, etc). I know why I believe what I do. I am interested in understanding why believers believe what they do. Defending Christian theism is the point of apologetics, so this ought to be the right place. Maybe in doing so, I'll find reasons to believe again. Maybe I'll just find more reasons not to believe. We'll see. Its an interesting conversation.

Now, are you prepared to continue this discussion by addressing my criticisms of your use of NDEs as a reason to pursue Christian theism?

 

[AAA]

Well kiddo - ...Christianity is very simple and people complicate it with man made philosophy. So if you're serious about this, pray to God to give you direction, study the bible and study history so you wont repeat the mistakes of those came before you.

What in your response indicates why anyone should study and follow Christian theism rather than any other of the thousands of theisms that exist or have existed (which was my question).

Simply put: the question is, 'why read the Christian bible', and your answer is 'read the Christian bible'.

What distinguishes your beliefs from myth? What makes you anything other than gullible?

I studied the bible at school. I re-read the New Testament just this summer in fact - from cover to cover. I prayed to your god for decades, and despite believing in him(them) sincerely, I heard nothing from him(them).

 

[Chrisv]

You are correct, the link http://www.iands.org that I posted is not of a peer reviewed publication, it is in fact a organisation that keeps track of multiple peer reviewed publications. It is obvious that you did not even try to investigate the website, you just jumped to a conclusion.

You can find the article here:
http://www.iands.org/research/important_studies/dutch_nde_study_attracts_worldwide_attention.html

I will quote some info to save you the effort of finding it yourself:

On December 15, 2001, the highly respected international medical journal, The Lancet, published a 13-year study of NDEs observed in 10 different Dutch hospitals. This is one of the very few NDE studies to be conducted prospectively, meaning that a large group of people experiencing cessation of their heart and/or breathing function were resuscitated during a fixed period of time, and were interviewed. Through those interviews the doctors discovered who had experienced NDEs. The advantage of this type of study is that it gives scientists a matched comparison group of non-NDE patients against which to compare the near-death experiencers, and that in turn gives scientists much more reliable data about the possible causes and consequences of the near-death experience.

For example, in the past some scientists have asserted that the NDE must be simply a hallucination brought on by the loss of oxygen to the brain [called "anoxia"] after the heart has stopped beating. This study casts doubt on that theory, in the words of its chief investigator, cardiologist Pim van Lommel, MD, "Our results show that medical factors cannot account for the occurrence of NDE. All patients had a cardiac arrest, and were clinically dead with unconsciousness resulting from insufficient blood supply to the brain. In those circumstances, the EEG (a measure of brain electrical activity) becomes flat, and if CPR is not started within 5-10 minutes, irreparable damage is done to the brain and the patient will die. According to the theory that NDE is caused by anoxia, all patients in our study should have had an NDE, but only 18% reported having an NDE... There is also a theory that NDE is caused psychologically, by the fear of death. But only a very small percentage of our patients said they had been afraid seconds before their cardiac arrestâ€â€it happened too suddenly for them to realize what was occurring. More patients than the frightened ones reported NDEs." Finally, differences in drug treatments during resuscitation did not correlate with the likelihood of patients experiencing NDEs, nor with the depth of their NDEs.

The possibility of consciousness existing outside of the brain, when the brain itself appears to be dead, is for Dr. van Lommel an especially important outcome of this research. As he wrote at the end of The Lancet article, and then added in a letter to Dr. Long:

How could a clear consciousness outside one's body be experienced at the moment that the brain no longer functions during a period of clinical death with flat EEG? . . . Furthermore, blind people have described veridical perception during out-of-body experiences at the time of this experience. NDE pushes at the limits of medical ideas about the range of human consciousness and the mind-brain relation. There is a theory that consciousness can be experienced independently from the normal body-linked waking consciousness. The current concept in medical science, however, states that consciousness is the product of the brain. Could the brain be a kind of receiver for consciousness and memories, functioning like a TV, radio or a mobile telephone? What you receive is not generated by the receiver, but rather electromagnetic informational waves (photons) that are always around you and are made visible or audible to you by the brain and your sense organs. In our prospective study of patients that were clinically dead (flat EEG, showing no electrical activity in the cortex, and loss of brain stem function evidenced by fixed dilated pupils and absence of the gag reflex), the patients report a clear consciousness, in which cognitive functioning, emotion, sense of identity, or memory from early childhood occurred, as well as perceptions from a position out and above their "dead" body.

To answer these fundamental questions, research should be focused on specific elements of the NDE, such as out-of-body experiences and other verifiable aspects. Finally, the theory and background of transcendence should be included as a part of an explanatory framework for these experiences.

References
1. French, Christopher (2001). "Commentary." Lancet 358, pp. 2010-11.

Just remember AAA, just because you do not believe in God does not change the fact that He does exist. I have presented you with Medical proof that there is consciousness after death.

I am certain that you will be extremely reluctant to admit it, because it causes a problem in your current belief system.

Surely, if you look at the world around you and the perfect harmony in nature, it cannot be too hard to believe in God?

 

[joechrist]

AAA,

1. There is a God. (I believe)
2. What you believe is irrelevant to God, because that is out of your control. Your mind can only believe something based on the evidence put before you and the experiences in your life. If God hasn't provided enough evidence for you personally to believe in him, you are not at fault. If there's one thing you can do to please God, it is to always be honest with yourself and determine what makes sense to you about God and not what other fallible men tell you.
3. We Do have control over our actions. Regardless if you believe in Jesus or not, you can heed his message, which is why God sent him here. Do you try in your life to follow the teachings of Jesus? If so, you are pleasing God and will be rewarded for it. If you are not, you will suffer because of it, whether it be this life, or the after.
4. Please always be on guard for people who will try to steer you away from the true message of Jesus. Jesus came here to show us the way to live, not the way to think. What you are doing is more honorable in God's eyes then someone who just accepts what someone tells them without question or reason. God gave you a brain for a reason. Not to just ignore it, but to use it to understand him and to find meaning in this life.

 

[Brother Lionel]

What in your response indicates why anyone should study and follow Christian theism rather than any other of the thousands of theisms that exist or have existed (which was my question). What distinguishes your beliefs from myth? What makes you anything other than gullible?

Well, first of all, the response was meant to let the person know that even though Christianity is the true faith, he/she still has some obstacles to climb if they want to live by the truth. Second of all, what distinguishes the Christian faith from the thousands of others is that despite the many religions in this world, there are two religions. The religion which teaches that Jesus is God, Savior, Creator, and Ulitimate ruler of the universe; and the religion that teaches that He isnt those things and that man, who can save himself, needs no Savior. The latter is nothing but the ancient Babylonian sunworship system which is in opposition to God and, to the surprise of many Christians, some of the religions who teach that Jesus is not God claim to be Christian.

So, all of these religions (excluding Judaism) in our world fall under these two categories even though there are thousands.

I studied the bible at school. I re-read the New Testament just this summer in fact - from cover to cover. I prayed to your god for decades, and despite believing in him(them) sincerely, I heard nothing from him(them).

Well, tell me, if you did all of those things, what were you expecting to hear from Him? And its very likely that either He did speak to you and you did not want to listen, or He did not speak to you because you were not ready to listen.

 

[AAA]

what were you expecting to hear from Him?

What should I be expecting to hear? How do you receive god's direction? How does he "speak to you"?

Let me warn you: I don't think that there is an answer to these questions beyond "i just know", and that's no answer is it?

 

[AAA]

You are correct, the link http://www.iands.org that I posted is not of a peer reviewed publication, it is in fact a organisation that keeps track of multiple peer reviewed publications. It is obvious that you did not even try to investigate the website, you just jumped to a conclusion.

Well Chrisv, I did spend considerable time at that website, and I did find the article you've linked to both from this website and from Pubmed. You seem to be the one who jumps to conclusions, as you do here:

I have presented you with Medical proof that there is consciousness after death.

The NDE literature does not constitute proof of consciousness after death.

I am certain that you will be extremely reluctant to admit it, because it causes a problem in your current belief system.

There are very few people who are inclined to this "admission" Chrisv, and those that are may just as easily be doing so because it fits with their belief system. It is noteworthy that science, and intellectual honesty, are distinguished by means, checks, and balances to specifically avoid being swayed by personal belief systems. Intellectual honesty demands reproducibility and carefully controlled situations when possible, neither of which are present in this literature, though they could be.

As an example, if you read the quote you provided, you will see that EEGs are not available during the vast majority of reported cases of NDE: the doctor in your paper merely indicates that the EEG ought to be a flatline. Big gap. As it turns out, there are instances where "clinical death" (ventricular fibrillation and pulselessness - this is not actual death) are intentionally induced everyday in hospitals around the world. I know that sounds crazy, but its true, and it is all in the interest of patient care. This presents an opportunity to try to correlate EEG activity with NDEs and out of body experiences. It would be possibly to prospectively test whether people reporting conversations or visions at the time of a flat EEG are actually accurate. I await such efforts (and I have heard that such a study may actually be underway, though I think I heard that on 20/20 or some such TV show) before making any conclusions.

Here's some more bad thinking by the primary proponent of NDEs representing consciousness after death: "According to the theory that NDE is caused by anoxia, all patients in our study should have had an NDE, but only 18% reported having an NDE". That's like me saying that according to the theory that cancer is caused by smoking, all people who smoke should get cancer. This is thinking like a child, and does not exclude the possibility that anoxia contributes to the experience of NDE.

The vast majority of the medical and scientific community is reluctant to make the conclusions you have because it just is not intellectually honest to do so.

If you read my previous post carefully, you will encounter the main problem with the conclusion you have prematurely made. I will repeat: the brain of people having NDE's is not dead, it just doesn't have detectable features of brain function. Furthermore, there is nothing in the paper you quote, nor in the NDE literature, that conclusively indicates that the NDE cannot be occurring as these living brains lose or regain detectable features of brain function.

The intellectually honest thing to do is to say that we do not understand very much about NDEs. They are interesting, and more work can and should be done to better understand them.

Surely, if you look at the world around you and the perfect harmony in nature, it cannot be too hard to believe in God?

I don't have time to go here right now, but I suspect that the same reasons that move you to believe that the NDE literature proves consciousness after death also move you to believe that nature is in "perfect harmony". Even if I agreed with that comment, I still don't see how that, let alone your other, completely different line of reasoning regarding NDEs, would in anyway begin to indicate that a carpenter named Jesus was born of a virgin, ritually murdered as a scapegoat for the indiscretions of humanity, and then raised from death after 72 hours ...

 

[AAA]

Your mind can only believe something based on the evidence put before you and the experiences in your life. If God hasn't provided enough evidence for you personally to believe in him, you are not at fault.

I agree.

We Do have control over our actions. Regardless if you believe in Jesus or not, you can heed his message, which is why God sent him here. Do you try in your life to follow the teachings of Jesus? If so, you are pleasing God and will be rewarded for it. If you are not, you will suffer because of it, whether it be this life, or the after.

I certainly try to lead a moral life, though I do not do so to obtain any sort of cosmic reward. I do recognize the power of forgiveness, charity, and love.

I think that you will get a lot of flack around here for these comments though (if anyone is reading this thread anymore)

What you are doing is more honorable in God's eyes then someone who just accepts what someone tells them without question or reason. God gave you a brain for a reason. Not to just ignore it, but to use it to understand him and to find meaning in this life.

Thank-you for your kind words of encouragement.

 

[Brother Lionel]

what were you expecting to hear from Him?

What should I be expecting to hear? How do you receive god's direction? How does he "speak to you"?

Let me warn you: I don't think that there is an answer to these questions beyond "i just know", and that's no answer is it?

You should expect to hear how you can live forever. I mean, you do want to live after you die right? That is basically whats at play hear - the after life. And in order know how to live after death, you have to search for the answers. This is normally called "searching for the truth". And only God and His sacred book that He left us has the answers. Which brings me to the response to your second question; I receive God's direction by studying His Word and seeking answers to my questions. And "How does He speak to me?" He speaks to me in many ways; it could through His Word, through song, through people, or even through an abstract thought that enters my consciousness. Now, despite what many good people think, God does not majestically show up in His presence and speak audibly with His own voice, this is just not practical nor is it biblical because no one can see God and live. So, regardless if you dont think that your questions can not be answered, the reality is that they can. It may not be a way that you would like but they can be answered. And you can not ignore the brutal truth of death. We will all die, the question is where will you go when you are resurrected? There will be another life for me, but what will there be for you? Hey, you say that God doesnt speak to you but He could be speaking to you now as you read this with this question - Do you want to live foever or die?

 

[joechrist]

Your mind can only believe something based on the evidence put before you and the experiences in your life. If God hasn't provided enough evidence for you personally to believe in him, you are not at fault.

I agree.

We Do have control over our actions. Regardless if you believe in Jesus or not, you can heed his message, which is why God sent him here. Do you try in your life to follow the teachings of Jesus? If so, you are pleasing God and will be rewarded for it. If you are not, you will suffer because of it, whether it be this life, or the after.

I certainly try to lead a moral life, though I do not do so to obtain any sort of cosmic reward. I do recognize the power of forgiveness, charity, and love.

I think that you will get a lot of flack around here for these comments though (if anyone is reading this thread anymore)

What you are doing is more honorable in God's eyes then someone who just accepts what someone tells them without question or reason. God gave you a brain for a reason. Not to just ignore it, but to use it to understand him and to find meaning in this life.

Thank-you for your kind words of encouragement.

If you live your life the way you stated, doing so without any expectation of cosmic reward or any type of reward, is more honorable than someone one doing so with those expectations of reward. God wants us to live our lives the way Jesus taught, which is why he sent him here. If you are doing so to the best of your ability, if there is a reward, yours will be great. If my child finds a lost wallet and tries to return it to the owner, I want him to be doing it because he wants to, not because he knows if he doesn't he will get a punishment from me. Don't let anyone try to persuade the way you believe. Be honest with yourself and God and let your actions do the talking. Jesus would be pround.

 

[Chrisv]

I stand corrected. My apologies, it's good to see that you actually went to the trouble to investigate the topic on NDE's.

Now, if that is not enough to convince you or at least to start you wondering.....Hmm... I realise nothing but God appearing to you in all His Glory will convince you of His existence. I realise that even witnessing miraculous acts will not convince you as you will try to reason it out and find a scientific explanation.

If you are looking for ultimate proof of the existence of God that will convince even the most staunchest of Atheists, I doubt that you will find it. If there was such proof everybody on earth would have been Christians. That is why there is an element of faith involved.

AAA, If the NDE info I sent you is not enough to at least get you wondering, I don't know If I can provide any argument that will convince you. You are obviously very intelligent and I commend you for asking the hard questions.

Now, I want to say something that might come over as condescending but, please, that is not the intention. I hate nothing more than a "Holy'er than thou" attitude. I make the following statement with a humble heart because nothing in it is because of me, I tried to achieve it but could not, God is the one who changed me.

I will leave you with the following tidbit out of my own experience:

I believe in a loving and caring and all knowing God who takes care of me.
He changed me form being a angry ex-cop with a violent temper into a peace loving, gentle person who now do not have a temper problem anymore. Believe me, only God could do that.
As a result, I am living a life without worry and fear that is filled with love, because I know that there is a good purpose to my life and that purpose was set even before the world was made.
Granted, I go through unpleasant experiences in my lifetime but they don't phase me as I know that there will be a positive outcome. I eagerly await the day I die, because I know my Heavenly Father will be waiting for me on the other side. So what if I die and it all was a lie? I would have lived a good life, free of fear and worries, feeling loved and wanted.

You on the other hand will always have that nagging doubt (the fact that you bother to participate on this forum proves that) - What if the Christians are right?

I urge you to continue in your quest. We never know, maybe God will decide in His sovereignty to give you the proof you are looking for, I sincerely hope so.

Finally I am asking God to tell me something that can mean something in your life, I will relate what I am sensing but, please remember that I've been known to make mistakes. Forgive me if I am way off base.

I have a real sense that you have weathered many storms in your life, and had to learn to rely on yourself and your own perseverance. I am sensing that you are currently in a stormy period in your life and that by the end of the year this will pass and you will be able to enter a time of rest. Everytime I think of you the word "Perserverance" comes to mind. You can perservere, when everybody else gives up you will still go on until you reach your goal. I believe that is one of your defining charateristics, your ability to stick to it and finish it.

Blessings

 

[JoJo]

I believe in a loving and caring and all knowing God who takes care of me.
He changed me form being a angry ex-cop with a violent temper into a peace loving, gentle person who now do not have a temper problem anymore. Believe me, only God could do that.
As a result, I am living a life without worry and fear that is filled with love, because I know that there is a good purpose to my life and that purpose was set even before the world was made.

Amen and praise God! :amen