Hey MM,
Great post, and I do believe in God and was brought up in a Christian home. I'm glad for that and still don't have all the answers. I believe that we shouldn't try to make sense of it all because we are after all only human.
I have a four year old son who asks me at times about why his grandma is dead, where she is now, and will he ever see her. I get all choked up about this stuff and I hope we do go somewhere better after this life, but even the most devout Christian lives only by faith and has no way to say absolutely no doubt that God really does exist.
My nephew is now studying to become a pastor (not an easy life) and it's because he's had a lot of 'incidents' occur in his life that tell him he's to do this 'work'. But, in reality, is it really God talking or is it the way he prefers to interpret the 'message'...whatever that is. Who can say...and he wasn't raised in a Christian home which make me think twice about whether he is deluding himself because he feels strongly about this move in his life.
Me...I thing about things like WWII and all the people who suffered in places like Auschwitz and little boys my son's age being led into gas chambers to die....and I think what a merciless God. It cannot make sense and no matter how much I was told or taught in church, I have to think that if God is coming back to earth will it indeed take an act of man destroying himself to do it? From what the world has seen over just even the past several decades, it would seem that nothing short of a world (human race) blown away by the bomb would make it happen.
Does it make sense? And are we only here on earth for our very short lives to make a choice between heaven and hell?
I wish too that I had that revelation that YES I believe, because I have experienced IT, whatever that IT is...a message, a sign, etc. But I have not, so I must act on faith just like the rest...and hope that my heart is pure enough.
This is a very intense topic...far from building amps!
My last comment will be that we all go forward in our lives with an open mind, ask questions, and be the best people that we can be...if we make a positive difference in this world, then that's all we can hope for.
Religion and the church is not something I want in my life, because I feel that if you have a personal relationship with God then that's good enough.
Cole