In article <bskendigC5Ku3C.6Dx@netcom.com> bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig) writes:  >I've asked your god several times with all my heart to come to me.  I >really wish I could believe in him, 'cos no matter how much confidence >I build up on my own, the universe *is* a big place, and it would be >so nice to know I have someone watching over me in it...  Brian K., I am pleased with your honesty.  And to be honest as well, I believe you have not asked my god to come to you.  Why do I say this? Because by the things you write on the net, and the manner with which you write them, you show me that you made up your own god and are attempting to pass him off as the real thing.  I got news for you. Yours doesn't at all sound like mine.  Your god doesn't come to you because your god doesn't exist.  >I've gone into this with an open mind.  I've layed my beliefs aside >from time to time when I've had doubt, and I've prayed to see what >good that would do.  I don't see what more I can do to open myself to >your god, short of just deciding to believe for no good reason.  And >if I decide to believe for no good reason, why not believe in some >other god?  Zeus seems like a pretty cool candidate...  I am sorry Brian, but when I read your postings, I do not see an open mind. What I do see is misunderstanding, lack of knowledge, arrogance and mockery.  >Please tell me what more I can do while still remaining true to myself.  Be true to yourself then.  Have an open mind.  And so end the mockery.  Gain  knowledge of the real God.  Put your presumptions aside.  Read the Bible and know that there is, truly is, a reason for everything and there exists a God that has so much love for you that the depth of it goes beyond our shallow worldly experience.  A person who commits himself   to seeking God, will find God.  Jesus stands at your door and knocks.  But a person who half-heartedly opens the Bible, or opens it with purpose to find  something to mock, will find, learn and see nothing.  The only thing one will gain with that attitude is folly.  Be careful to not jump the gun, for at first glance, there are many passages in the Bible that will seem bizarre and absurd.  Be assured that even though they seem alien at first, be confident that they are not. Be assured that beyond your present comprehension, there lies such deep reasons that once you see them, you will indeed be satisfied.  I will personally guarantee that one.  As Jesus put it, "You will never be thirsty again.  Your cup will even flow over."   From King Solomon (970 B.C. to 930 B.C.):      "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;      to search out a matter is the glory of kings."   Jesus says in John 6:44 & 55:     "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."   And in John 3:16:     "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,    that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal    life."   You are included in "whosoever".  And I also pray that the Father is drawing you, which it seems He is doing else you wouldn't be posting to talk.religion.misc.  Remember Brian, you could be a St. Paul in the making.  Paul not only mocked Christians as you do, but also had pleasure stoning them.  Yet God showed him mercy, saved him, and Paul became on of the most celebrated men in the history of God's church.  You see Brian, I myself better be careful and not judge you, because you could indeed be the next Paul.  For with the fervor that you attack Christians,  one day you might find yourself one, and like Paul, proclaim the good news of Jesus with that very same fervor or more.  Or you could be the next Peter.  What Jesus said to Peter, Jesus would  probably say to you: "Satan would surely like to have you."  Why so? Because Peter was hard-headed, cynical and demonstrated great moments of stupidity, but once Peter committed himself to a task he did with full heart.  Peter was the only apostle to have the faith to walk on water as Jesus did.  You asked "Why not believe in Zeus?"  Zeus didn't offer eternal life. You got nothing to gain by believing in Zeus.