The Perfect Stranger Page #5

Doesn't it seem like your followers

are always at each other's throats?

Yes it does.

And I can't tell you

how said it makes me.

These people were

just outwardly religious -

they never really trusted me.

They never lived like the new

people they were supposed to be.

Isn't that just a little convenient?

I mean... Can you honestly

say that no real Christians

were involved in any

of these things.

The tragedy is... no,

I can't say that.

It may not be the norm... but it

has been much too frequent.

What did you mean by

living like new people?

When someone accepts my gift,

they get more

than just forgiveness -

- otherwise heaven would be full of

a bunch of forgiven sinners,

still running away from God.

That's not what he wants.

So what does he do about it?

He changes them from the inside.

Their heart and their spirit don't

want to run from Him anymore...

they want to be with Him... And do

the things He says are good.

But they don't

always do that I see.

Sometimes no, they don't.

A new heart just

gets you in the game.

After that you have to let

me be your coach.

What does that mean?

It means that you believe

in what I did for you,

that you have

accepted God's forgiveness,

and you've allowed Him

to live inside you.

Allow... Him to what?

Live inside you.

It's as close to

God as you can get.

The last thing I need is God looking

over my shoulder every minute.

He's already looking over your shoulder -

- what you need is Him

living in you every minute.

Why?

Well, how are you ever going to

love your family unconditionally?

I know you want

to love Matt better,

but you just don't know how...

...and even if you did

you couldn't.

Only God can love in a special way,

and He wants to do it through you.

I try do hard, but...

things just aren't going well

with Matt. We just get so...

...irritated at one another.

You know, these things you

are telling me...

...I never really heard

them explained before.

I know...

My message got all

jumbled along the way.

Church leadership...

power structures...

people were so anxious to

reduce God to a set of rules.

Isn't rules what He is all about?

Hardly.

God is all about joining

people to Himself.

That's how people were

originally designed.

To have God's

very life within them.

And without it, you are like a new

Mercedes with no engine...

...it may look good on

the outside,

...but it won't work because it's

missing the most important part.

Then if that's what

Christianity is all about,

then why don't the

Christians just say so.

Because a lot of them

really don't understand.

They haven't

listened to what I said

...even though my words are

right there in front of them.

So where do we go from here?

Good question.

Where do you want to go?

Would you care for some coffee?

Yes, please.

Why doesn't God just...

...show himself to people?

Then what would you have Him do?

I don't know...

Appear to each person individually.

No, seriously -

most people don't get a

personal dinner invitation.

I already appeared to everyone -

I became one of them.

It's as personal as it gets.

But that was over

two thousand years ago.

It's really not a matter of

further visual evidence.

People have all the

evidence they need...

...it's more a matter of the heart -

Do people want to humble

themselves enough to need God?

How can you say people have

all the evidence they need?

Well, the creation shows

them that God exists -

scientists know more about its

intricate design now more than ever.

I came to show

them what God is like.

And on top of that they have

the message of the Bible.

Speaking of the Bible, what

about all the contradictions?

Like which one?

I don't know the specifics, but -

Then I'll give you one.

One gospel account says I healed

two blind men outside of Jericho.

Another account says I healed one.

Well, there you go.

Tell me something, the other

day at work,

when you were telling Les

that story about something

that happened to you and Matt

when you went to the movies,

had the two of you

gone alone that night?

No, Matt's friend

Tim was with us.

Why did you leave that fact out?

Because it wasn't relevant

to the story I was telling.

All right. You knew

I was going to ask this...

Why have scientists had such a

problem with the Creation theory

as opposed to Evolution?

I think the problem is with

the 'in his own image' part.

That would make them

accountable to a Creator...

...and they don't want that.

Is there a hell?

Yes.

For those who choose continue

separation from God,

there is an existence...

...and it's not an

existence you want.

Why does He send people there?

The Father offers forgiveness

to anyone willing to accept it.

Sometimes people choose

separation from God

and he respects what they choose.

Why doesn't he make everyone go

to heaven? They'd be happier there.

Because love doesn't

force relationships.

If you had somehow

forced Matt to marry you,

that wouldn't have been love.

God created people with the

ability to choose freely.

And He respects

those choices they make.

So I suppose you would say that...

for God to allow suffering

is the same kind of thing.

What do you think?

That humanity suffers because

it separated itself from God?

Yes.

So why doesn't He

just make everything right,

and do it now, instead of waiting

for some day in the future?

It's a little hard

to answer because

you can't see things from

God's perspective right now.

But there is a

purpose to the present,

and one day everything

will be made right.

And don't forget - God didn't

leave you to suffer alone -

he suffered more than anyone.

You're still angry about your dad.

God took him away

when I was thirteen.

I'd say that's worth

being angry about.

Or was that just

part of God's plan?

Your dad loved you very much.

We used to do everything together.

Reds games, Bengals. He used

to coach my softball team.

When mom divorced him, we

moved across town and...

...he never coached me again.

You still saw him, though.

Yeah, every other weekend.

But it wasn't the same.

He missed you too.

I know.

You don't know how

brokenhearted he was about you.

It almost killed him to lose you.

Well he didn't live much

longer anyway, did he?

No.

He didn't.

This may not seem true to you...

...but I was heartbroken

for both of you.

Yeah, you are right.

That doesn't seem true.

You never answered my question -

was my parents divorce

and my dad dying...

...part of God's plan?

Do you know the story

of the prodigal son?

Great. Another

Sunday School lesson.

What did it take for the son to

return to the father who loved him?

For life to get really bad

in the pig pen. So what?

Sometimes... it takes a deep hurt

to feel a deep need for God.

That's God plan?

That's what God is willing

to use in a broken world.

Your dad's pain drove him to me.

And without that wound

in your heart, Nikki,

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