Life, Liberty, and A Pursuit of Truth

I have tremendous conviction because of the way I thought, and therefore lived, before my father-in-law died. His nickname was Chubby. He lived his whole life without God.

He was an alcoholic. Now, I lived a lot like him even though I was raised with a knowledge of God and what the Bible said. He was raised believing there was no God and he should just try to get whatever enjoyment out of life he could, through the here and now.

I had reformed. For years I used foul language and got drunk and basically lived the same lifestyle Chubby did. However, when my wife and I lost our fist child through a miscarriage, I woke up to the harsh reality that life is not a game, and this horrible eventuality called death is something I had better prepare for myself. So I went to the other extreme. I started reading the Bible everyday. I became such a student of the Bible

I quit college and used the time I had for college to study the Bible. I went to a four-year Bible college. After going to Bible college, I still hungered to know everything I could about the Bible so I went to a seminary, and got a graduate degree. Eventually, I continued on and took post-graduate classes. I had a hunger to study and learn everything I could about the Bible, once I was convinced that it is absolutely true, and the only source of objective absolute truth I have available to me in this world and life. I learned everything I could from both an informal and formal education.

I also did everything I could to live a good Christian life. I quit smoking and drinking. I stopped using bad language to the extent that I would not even use metaphors for improper words once I was aware of it. I was living the life God had called me to. I was very Pharisaic in my thinking. I could not stand to be around Chubby because his language was filthy. He had no interest in the things of God outwardly. Thankfully, God still loved him. On his deathbed, when he knew he was done in this world, he actually believed what the Bible says about God and asked Jesus to save him. This was an hour before he was sedated for pain; never to be conscious again. The next morning his spirit left earth to be with God. I thought I was too good for him, so in actually I was more offended by his sinfulness than God was! God loved him and saved him. This has revolutionized my thinking as I have turned from thinking and living like a Pharisee to trying to love as God loves.