Do you have any idea?

I have come to the conclusion that most persons alive today in America have no idea how much God really loves them. I say alive, because those who are already dead know EXACTLY how much God loves them. If they trusted Jesus Christ as their savior, they are now in eternal paradise, fellowshipping with Jesus Himself. If they denied Christ and refused His sacrifice, they are in hell and will forever weep at the fact that they turned away from the unequaled love of Jesus.

Here's some examples of how much Jesus (who is God) loves you, despite the fact that you and I are scum-sucking muckrakers who spend our entire lives trying to foul things up.

Last night I recieved an email from a friend who attended Mardi Gras in the cesspool formerly known as New Orleans. He went there to help people and try and bail them out of their misery. Anyway, my friend has real long hair and looks like Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. So, some young girl walked up to him and asked if she could perform a sex act on him. He asked her "do you speak to your granmother with that mouth?" She ran and he followed her. When he caught her, she was crying and said, "I'm sorry sir, I know that was so wrong, I'm a college student and I don't know why I did that." My friend comforted her and told her about the incredible life that she could have in Jesus.

Gang, that's love. You see, the devil wanted this girl to do this for 2 reasons. 1, to see if my friend would fall for the same old trick (worked with David, Solomon, etc.) and 2. to see if he could capture this girl forever by maybe giving her aids, or oral herpes or some other deadly disease. But God intervened on her behalf and saved her life. Coincidence? don't bet on it.

Another friend of mine had no insurance, or money and had severe stomach pains. One night he couldn't take it anymore so his wife rushed him to the hospital where it was discovered that his entire stomach was filled with cancerous lesions. He was told that no surgery could be performed because of his condition and that he had at most weeks to live. But God sent a couple of monkeys in business attire to see him and they prayed for him. Several weeks later it was discovered that his tumors were gone. The devil wanted to kill him because he is a preacher and dearly loves God. Coincidence? not according to the staff of Ben Taub Hospital.

A man riding a bicycle, stopped by the office of someone I know. He was about 60 years old, and smelled and asked if he could have a drink of water. Instead of turning him away, my pal invited this man into his office and gave him a coke. They talked for awhile and my pal found out that he had been riding a bike across the country for 15 years - ever since his wife died. He was diagnosed with MS and the only thing which helped was to ride a bicycle for 30 or more miles every day. When he rode, he didn't shake. He was hungry, but looked O.K.; someone at Wal-Mart gave him a neat little trailer which he modified to fit onto his bike.
My pal spent the day with him - had some sandwhiches brought in, some more cokes and even a lighter for his cigarettes. The two things he asked for were a guitar pick and a bible, which my friend gladly provided. About 4 pm, the old man rode off never to be seen again. The devil wanted to destroy this man by taking away his life after his wife gave up hers. He even gave him a disease which cripples most people permanently. But God had other ideas. The old man doesn't fit the profile of an everyday American "Christian", but then again, neither did Jesus. Was this man meeting my pal a coincidence? No way.

Lastly, I want to share a true story which happened to me. If you are not a Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit, you may think I'm lying or making it up. God, my family and lots of others know I'm not - but I want to share it because it demonstrates just how much God loves you.
Many years ago I owned a retail store in a large city where there was an "arts" center, meaning that many gay and fringe people lived and hung out there. One day, while traveling to my store I distinctly heard a voice inside my head say, "go into that tattoo parlour". I thought perhaps I had listened to too much soundgarden and so I turned off the radio. The next day at the same place, I heard the same thing, "go into the tattoo parlour". Now, I'm starting to wonder if I need to call Dr. Laura. So, that day during my prayer time I asked God (we never TELL God anything - He already knows) "Lord", I said, "If it is you telling me to do this wierd thing, please do it again tomorrow at the same time." Well, you guessed it, as i passed by, I heard louder than ever in my noggin, "Go into the tattoo parlour".

So, that evening on my way home, I parked out front, grabbed a small bible and in my business attire walked into a tattoo parlour. I was scared. A young man who seemed to be 6'8" tall with no shirt and huge muscles stepped out from behind a table. He had tattoos from his neck to his waist, a huge choke chain around his neck and no hair. "Can I help you?" he said. Now, I'm really not a chicken but I was thinking, "The devil tricked me good this time." But, because I know God will never leave or forsake me, I said, " you're going to think I'm crazy, but God told me to come in here". Instead of punching me in the face (which is what I sort of expected), he said, "Man, that's good because I have been writing all these things about what I think God is - maybe you can help me with them" and he reached behind the table and pulled out his notebook.

Now Ryan (the young man) didn't accept Christ there or even at the clubs I used to visit to watch his death-metal band play at. I still pray for him and trust God to do His thing this is to love people like me and Ryan.

Here's the punch-line. God loves you so much that instead of frying you for eternity in a burning lake of fire (which is not a metaphor folks - trust me - it's real) because you and I are guilty of being nasty critters, He took this punishment Himself! If we are honest with ourselves, (which few people are these days) we will admit that we stink. We lie, cheat, violate one another in the most perverse ways and then try and drink or drug away our guilt. We would all be George Michael if we had his coin. Yet, despite all of this God punished Jesus instead of you and I.

SO we're off the hook, right? We don't have to worry? As Charlie Chan used to say, "So Solly". We are only off the hook if we REALLY believe that Jesus took our punishment and we pray to Him and ask Him to forgive us for what we have done that put him in our place.

If Ryan never accepts Jesus Christ as his savior, he will spend eternity in Hell. That's a fact, Jack. But I know that the same God who sent me into that tattoo parlour loves Ryan more than he could ever dream of and is giving him every chance to do just that. Chances don't last forever - even in God's time frame.

My question for you is, are you missing your chance? You can have the love of eternity, all you need is your knees and solitude.