ANSWERS

to rae and samaria:

Well, I obviously live for God, and God alone. And the word 'god' can get quite sickening when bad things happen eg. deaths, family problems, relationships... Espcially as a Christian. We sing about the greatness of God in church, we read the Bible about how God is so good, about how He is so powerful. Then... WHERE WAS GOD WHEN THAT GIRL IN THE NEWS WAS BEING RAPED?! WHERE IS GOD WHEN SAMARIA'S FAMILY IS BREAKING APART?! WHERE WAS GOD WHEN RAE JUST NEEDED TO KNOW THAT SOMEONE CARED?! What happened to the God I've been singing about? What happened to the God who promised peace and joy?

But I can still say that God is good. It's just like this. Althought there's a God that is good, there's a devil that is bad. And bad things do happen to good people. THat's coz we live in a broken down world, full of sin and imperfection. And bad things is not the work of God, but of the devil. It's not that God caused all these to happen. We humans are the ones who sin and give in to the devil's temptations. It's true that it's not our fault that many bad things happen to us. God knows that, and He didn't leave us to suffer. God came down to the earth as a man, Jesus, so that He could relate to us personally. He knows what it feels like when we go through temptations and trials, because He went through them as a man. God is good. He doesn't enjoy himself in heaven while we're suffering down here, but He tries to help us. He loves each and everyone of us so much. He died for us so that we can be reconciled back to Him after being seperated from Him by sin. He didn't just create us for fun, but He gave us a purpose to live, whether it's to become a singer who'll touch lives with music, or a businessman who'll provide for the poor, each of us are created for something special. God is our Father, and He treasures the relationship He has with us, his children. He's a perfect Father, and loves us to death. He doesn't let bad things have the last say. Although things may be rough in life, but God promised that He'd make things better. And unless we understand how much He loves and and how much He wants to help us, we'll never let God do the work in our life.

Just last week, an american pastor came to my church to preach. His story and teachings changed my outlook on life and God, totally. He was sexually violated by a step-FATHER, his alchholic mom died when he was a child, and his real father sent him away after his mom's death. Because of this kind of upbringing, he grew up unnutured and insecure, not knowing how to love. Then he discovered homosexuality, and became one because he felt like he was supposed to be one and felt accepted by them. However, he gave homosexuality when he found God, because he found true love and acceptance. He didn't have to go to bed to find love anymore. He mentioned that Christians like to say 'come to God and He'll work it out', but having our sins and past forgiven wouldn't cause the bad and hurtful memories to go away. It takes lots of time to get over it. And God doesn't make us just try to bury our past and our feelings and move on instantly, but He knows that we also have issuses we have to deal with, and helps us. He mentioned also that it isn't like ' I am bad, God is mad'. God looks beyond our sin and see why we sin instead of what we did wrong. He also said that people don't doubt the existance of God, but they doubt the character of God. And if God allows such bad things to happen, who would wanna believe in Him? The thing is that, God doesn't let tragedy have the last say. He is the one who changes bad situations back to good.

I know that I don't experience as many family problems and financial problems as the both of you do, but it's just because God has turned life around for my parents who chose to trust in Him which is why I have such a good life. My mom's dad died when she was a teen, and had to take care of 3 younger siblings while her mom was at work. She didn't get along well with her siblings. My dad used to be rich as a child, but his dad gambled away all their money and was always out gambling, when the family at home had so little that they had to worry if they had enough money to buy food. Being the oldest, my dad had to take care of 7-8 younger siblings when his mom was at work. Both my parents had hard lives because of family and financial problems. It was hard for them to actually imagine family life with much joy because of what they'd gone through. But they both found God at a point of time in their lives and trusted that he would create a new and joyful family life for them when they got married. And I am just blessed to be part of God's work for my parents.

I'm not trying to promote Christianity. Christianity isn't even a religion to me, performing rituals or attending religious ceremonies (going to church) in case God gets angry with me and gives me bad luck or whatever. It's about knowing a God who cares and loves me, my family, and my friends. It's about knowing a God who's real, and who has revealed himself to me.To me, God isn't a theory or a fantasy to study and read about anymore. He's a God to experience and to serve. Jesus didn't just die on the cross just so that we could go to heaven when we die. He died and resurrected so that we could have hope in this horrible, meaningless life. He shows us that he has the power to resurrect our financial situation, our family life, our dreams. A hope from our heavenly father that things don't always have to be meaningless and yet hard. Life could mean so much more. And being a good friend of both of you, I just wanna share with you this love, hope and joy that I've found and can experience in this lifetime. I don't have to wait to go to heaven to experience it.

Ryan Sean