*eternity*- picture the tallest mountain in the world. now visualize a tiny little sparrow flying up to the mountain, nudging it with its beak, then flying away. a million years comes to pass. another little sparrow flies up to the same mountain. it too gives a little nudge with its beak and flies away. imagine this happening over and over- a sparrow flying up, nudging, and flying away with a million years between each visit. now here's the catch- picture the mountain completely worn away into a small hill by all of this nudging. that would've taken many MANY visits by thosse little birds, huh? well that, my friend, is just one second in eternity. long time? thats why it's nothing to mess around with.

*hell*- turn on the burner, go ahead do it. turn it on high. wait till it turns bright red hot. stick your hand on it, i dare you. now picture that kind of pain all over your body for eternity(see above). not fun, eh?


i know you may not want to hear this kind of stuff, but the statement "what i don't know can't hurt me" is a lie. so just give me a chance to explain what the point of all this is. it's a matter of eternity.

*my story
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

for a good part of my life, i was blind to the truth. sure, every now and then i'd go to church(on the "important" holidays), but for the most part, i'd just go about my life, my faith consisting of being a "good little girl." when it came to christianity and the Bible, i knew next to nothing besides the fact that God made us and adam and eve lived in the garden of eden. i wasn't sure what heaven and hell were all about, but i wasn't too worried cause wasn't God a loving, caring God? as long as i was did good things, tried to be a nice person, wasn't that enough to go to heaven? but i started to do some not so nice things- i got involved in witchcraft at one point, secluded myself from others(thoughts of suicide) , and basically denied God, openly questioning people how they could believe in something they couldn't see. when i got into high school, all i could care about was being popular, dressing cool, getting experience sexually so i wouldn't feel dumb when my friends talked about what they did with their boyfriends. i never knew where i was headed- hell. i'd never question where i was going to spend eternity because it wasn't FUN to think about things like that. sound familiar? then, my life changed forever. i don't know when it started, but i started becoming interested in getting to know the God i had ignored for so long. my friend beth and i started having talks about church. she told me about a church in our town where everyone danced and sang and clapped their hands to the music, even old people. about a week before i was going to go with her to one of the services, she lent me the video "heaven's gates and hell's flames." the night i watched that video, i changed. it was one of those "life changing experiences" everyone talks about. but it was the night i found out the truth.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23.
i knew i had been a sinner(a big one in fact). but this put into perspective that i was the same as everyone else and even those who were "good people" had sins.

"Jesus said,'I am the Way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

i had always wondered why everyone had made a big deal about jesus. sure, he was born in bethlehem to a virgin, and he did a bunch of miracles and was nice to everyone, but that was where my knowledge of him ended. but after watching the video i realized that the only way to heaven was through jesus. why did jesus die on the cross? he died for EVERYONE'S sins, even those who didn't believe in him or God. by believing in him- that he was the Son of God, that he died on the cross for my sins so that i would be forgiven and could go to heaven, that he rose from the dead- i have been given the best gift ever....the gift of grace. good works could never save me...

ephesians 2:8~ for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- NOT by works, so that no one can boast.

i know where i will spend eternity- by jesus' side in heaven. don't you want to know him? a man who loved even his enemies? this is the jesus i know- if you spit in his face, he'll still love you. you can bad mouth him to anyone who'll listen. he'll still want you. no matter what you do, know matter what your sin is, he forgives you and wants to know you. this is the jesus i know- bloody, naked and hanging on a cross. even as they nailed him onto the cross, jesus still asked God to forgive them for they didn't know what they were doing. unconditional love. don't you want to know a man like that? i gave up everything i had- my pride, my sins, control of my life- but i gained something i would never give up- a relationship with jesus christ. my life has changed so much for the better ever since the night i asked jesus into my life. call me dumb and overemotional, but i still cry every time i think of what jesus has done in me. sure, i still get depressed, i cry, and i still have urges to sin, but i don't control my life, jesus does, so i have no worries. God wipes away my tears when bad things happen and i trust in him. i wish you too could experience the love, joy, just everything i experience from jesus. He is my reason for living.
ask jesus into your life- it requires everything from you but what you get in return is priceless.

prayer for salvation
oh Father
i come before you a sinner.
i have been blind to the truth Lord
but now i see the light-jesus is the way
Lord, your word promises that those
who believe that jesus is your Son,
that he died on the cross for my sins,
and that he rose from the dead
so that we might believe.
i know now that through jesus my sins are forgiven.
Father, today i ask jesus into my life.
i give all control over to Him.
i admit that i am a sinner and have fallen short
of your glory,
but because of jesus, i am forgive.
i thank you so much for this gift Lord.
in jesus' name, forever and ever. amen.