GOD

OH BOY! This is the one word that causes more fights and wars to break out than anything else! What is it about God that causes such primal emotions to boil over? Come on over and lets talk like adults about this.....

According to the Dictionary, God is a noun meaning an eternal, almighty being who is the creator, sustainer and ruler of the universe; Supreme being. It also tells about the Greek and Roman Gods of mythology. And “One or that which is made an object of worship, devotion, or admiration as in the King was a God to his subjects”

OK. Before I start with this, I want everyone of you to know that I am not in anyway trying to get you to change your views. Or to claim that I know it all and you know nothing. It matters not to me or anyone else what you chose to believe. Believe me, I am not the person to tell you you’re wrong. This is just my thoughts so that means that I’m not wrong either. Right?

However hard it is to believe, I have read the bible. Not a little bit here and there, but the entire book. Yes, it did get a little dry here and there. But its wasn’t written by Steven King so I didn’t expect to be on the edge of my seat as I read.

The Bible, as I saw it, was split into 3 main parts. The world before Jesus, The world during Jesus, and what the world will be after Jesus. I know there’s a lot more to it than that, but lets just condense it down to that for now.

The first part is called Genesis. Or the Old Testament. It explains to us how God created the world and us. But never said why he went to so much trouble. I don’t really think that God did all of this just to have someone to worship him. Think about it. Would God, the supreme being of the universe, need such a primitive human power trip to feel good about him/her self? Naaaaaaaaaa! It also goes on to tell us a little bit of world history before Jesus. The great flood, Moses, Solomon, Samson, and many other great stories. It did concern me a little to read in this section about revenge (an eye for an eye) and killing sinners (stoning) Whew! That would be a very painful way to die. What I found quite interesting was the fact that this story (Genesis) was very similar to stories in the Koran (Muslim) and Torah (Jewish) Bibles.

The middle parts of the Bible are split up into chapters. You have Luke, Matthew, John etc. These sections were written by the apostles of Jesus. They tell us, sometimes in not too plain of words, how to worship God; and how to help others. In other words, they explain the teachings of Christ and how we can all go to Heaven with God when our time on Earth is over.

The last portion lets us know what will be in the times to come. This is called Revelations. Now this is real scary. It tells us of the false prophet, the mark of the beast, a dragon that will wipe out 1/3 of the Earth with a single swipe of it’s tail, (a comet?) and the Apocalypse. After all of that happens, a peace will come all over the Earth. It never says when this will happen, Just that it will.

That, in a nut shell, is the Bible. I can not say that my life changed in any way after I got through reading it. I was brought up to help those who needed me. I had a conscious that always helped me make the right decision. I didn’t always listen to it, but it was always there just the same. But, I can say my eyes suddenly opened to what was going on all around me. I saw men getting up in front of a lot of folks taking a piece of these words and using them for their own personal gain. And this makes me very angry.

I watch TV Evangelist. More often than I want to admit to you here and I’ve come to a conclusion. Most of these people are con men. About the only exception I’ve noted is Billy Graham. It seems to me that every fifth and sixth words out of their mouths is “Send Money” They “need” this money to continue to send the “word of God” out to the millions of people tuning in. What? These people can’t read the Bible themselves? Of course, whatever I send them will be returned to me, what, two fold? five fold? ten fold? It depends on who you’re listening to.

Now these guys are living proof! They're wearing gold rings, watches, and $1500.00 suits. Living in multi-million dollar homes. And guess what? They don’t pay a dime in Taxes like you and I do. Everything they own belongs to their ministry. Which makes it all Tax free! Didn’t Jesus say “Render onto Caesar what is Caesar’s?” But , many years ago the clergy got the Government to make them Tax exempt. Now how can I do that? I don’t remember reading in the Bible that Jesus was hauled around in the finest carts, eating the finest foods, and wearing the finest clothes. And I seem to remember him doing a lot of camping out, under the stars. Now when do you think the last time was that Pat Roberson slept out under the stars? Sure, Mary did rub some expensive oil on to Jesus's feet, but the man walked everywhere he went for crying out loud!

Just for fun I called one of these “preachers” prayer lines one night and these “prayer helpers” didn’t let me down one bit. I made up a story about being addicted to drugs and feeling like I was needing guidance, and God's help to free me from my demons. Well, in less than 2 minutes I was asked if I would send “God” some money to this address. I ignored the question about sending money and continued with my sob story. Would you believe that less than 1 minute later I was disconnected! So 3 minutes is all I got. So now I don’t believe in their God. Although I never really did anyway because their God is money.

To me, God is a very personal ideal. God is within everyone of us. How we chose to worship him/her is up to us. God should never be forced onto anyone. At any age. God gave all of us the power to live and to think for ourselves. We can not ever allow anyone to tell us what is Godly or not. Nor can we allow anyone to tell us what God wants. Lets not foget what happened in Jonestown or Waco. All we have to do is look within ourselves to know that. Don’t believe me? Give it a try, it’s easy.

If you believe you are nothing but a sheep, then thats all you will be. God doesn't want you to blindly follow a leader to do bad things or to your death. Use the brain power that was given to you to reason things out. And yes, if you are stuck, ask for guidence.

I mentioned in a paragraph above about God being forced on us and you ask “Hey SPA*MAN! How is God forced on me?” Well, my gentle reader, read on and I will tell you how.

If you live in the United States, pull out a dollar bill and look at all the words. Did you know that before the 1950’s the word God only appeared on the penny? Now every monetary unit we have contains the words “In God We Trust” on it. WHY? Are the people, who have the right not to believe in God, supposed to use some other form of currency?

Recite the Pledge of Allegiance for our (U.S.) flag. Did you know that prior to the 1950’s the line “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” read “One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?” Under God was added. Why? Are the people, who choose not to believe in God, not allowed to give the pledge to the flag after those two words were added? What about those of us who believe that a lot of our countrymen and women before us gave their blood for the flag (nation) and what it stands for. We are not one nation under God. Whether or not we believe in God. That is a direct slap in the face of what our country was founded on. The flag has not one thing to do with God. God, therefore, does not belong in a pledge to it.

If you are called to give testimony in some State courts, you’re required to place your hand on a Bible and swear to “Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God” Swear to God that you’re telling the truth? Now with those words, I’m sure nobody would lie on the stand. Don’t you?

Our nation was created with one word in mind. FREEDOM. We are free to choose where we want to live. Free to work for whom we want to. And most of all free to pick which entity we want to worship. No matter what, no conditions, no buts about it. And the freedom to choose not to worship an entity. Our Constitution clearly states that Congress shall pass no law establishing an official religion. So why is this going on? Is not God an “official religion?” I guess not.

I suppose that the people who don’t believe in God have no right to live in the U.S. or are protected by the constitution. But the constitution is nothing but words on an old document. Over the years since its inception, it has been twisted, bent, and even broken. “That is not what they meant, so we had to fix it” But here I digress, I’ll save that for another page.

So now you’re asking “SPA*MAN, do you believe in God? How can you say those things and believe in God? Well, here I go. Keep up with me if you can. And remember what I said way up above. This is what I feel, and I’m not telling you what you should believe. I think even Em has a hard time understanding where I stand on God. I hope this will clear it up for her, as well as for anyone who is reading this. If you don’t agree, That’s OK. I won’t ever tell you that you're going to hell if you don’t see it my way. Can all of you say that? I only wish everyone could.

God is everywhere I look. God is everything I feel. Every good thing that happens to us is not to God’s credit. As well as not every bad thing that happens to us is to be blamed on the devil. God does not “test” us, and the devil is not tempting us to go against God. We are responsible for ourselves. Some people need to pray to God for strength and that’s OK. They are empowering themselves through a belief. And there’s not one thing bad about that.

The Bible is a very good book. The only problem is, over the years Mankind has changed it to serve their own purpose. It’s kind of like the Constitution. A little twist of it here, a little turn of it there. Like where it says that women were the property of their husbands. Now, doesn't that go over big these days? There, that’s what God meant. Would God ever say that a woman was not as good as a man, or was looked on any differently? The Constitution has only been around for a little over 200 years. Do you think that the bible hasn’t been twisted a little here and there over 2,000 years?

A lot of the clergy today seem to thrive on hate. Hate the Jews because they killed Jesus. Hate the homosexuals because they sleep with their same sex. Hate Holloween because it worships the Devil. Hate this, hate that. That’s what God wants. HATE? Sounds more like something the Devil wants to me.

It seems a shame that so many people over the years have been killed in the name of God. Can this be what God wanted? The only person that God wanted dead was Jesus, wasn’t it? The Jewish didn’t kill Jesus, God did. That’s why God Put Jesus here in the first place, wasn’t it? To die for our sins?

It seems to me that if every church would use the money they get to do God’s work, that we would all be hard pressed to find a homeless person living on the streets. Or to find a hungry person begging for a handout. Now we would still find the Beggars on the street’s but we would know that they are just too lazy to get a job. They have found begging an easier way to make a living than working for it.

God is every one of us. We all have the power to destroy God, as well as empower him/her. When we pray to God, is it he/she who strengthens us? Or are we just so positive that he will strengthen us that we strengthen ourselves? Nobody will ever really know that until they die. And the problem is, nobody ever returns from death to let us folks still alive know just what the truth is.

I just find it to hard to believe that all we’re ever going to be is what we are here on Earth. There has got to be something after our current soul breathes its last breaths on this plain. Is God and Heaven the answer? Some day each and every one of us will know for sure.

God only asks that we love each other, forgive those who don’t, and help everyone you can that needs it.

That is what I believe God is.

Wouldn’t it truly be a wonderful world if we all could live like that?