12/14/10 Bob: We've talked in your room now several times. You mentioned being interested in comparative religion, and you have a lot of books. That guy that I think you said filled Carnegie Hall seems to be way off in his theology. On last night's Nightline, I learned that Richard Holbrook died. He was 69. He took ill the other day at the State Department and went to the hospital. They did surgery for a torn aorta, and he remained in critical condition. Then apparently he died yesterday. I'd guess that he didn't know he was going to die that soon. Holbrook was currently a negotiator for Afghanistan. His negotiating days go all the way back to Viet Nam. He brokered the Dayton peace accords in Dayton, OH, and was one of the youngest to become an assistant Secretary of State. There was a rather famous French writer, Voltaire. He had no use for God. At one point, he was popular enough that he bragged something about his books were more popular than the Bible. Then he died. After his death, his quarters became a storage place for Bibles. Thus God got the last laugh on Voltaire. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man plants, he'll harvest." (Galatians) For many years, I've watched the Lawrence Welk show, generally on Saturday nights. But lately he's not available because he's usually not on while they're begging for money. Back in about the 70's, a young pianist and organist joined the show, Bob Ralston. He's a very good musician and arranger. After Welk stopped doing live shows, Ralston became a musician on cruise ships, and also got a job as organist at "Founder's Church." I heard Bob Ralston mention Founder's Church several times, and wondered what it was. He spoke of it on his weekly radio program, "Gee, Dad, it's a Wurlitzer." A Wurlitzer is a kind of organ that makes nice music. Then, finally, Ralston said, Founder's Church of Religious Science. I wasn't quite sure what they believed, so I called them up and spoke with a lady there. Essientially, they don't believe the Holy Bible. What a pity. Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" The richest man in the world can't buy his way into heaven. Bob Ralston in talking with other Lawrence Welk people on one of the more recent Lawrence Welk shows, told how he had been in an evengelical church that believed the Bible. Then he gives it all up. Gives up Jesus, and going to heaven, for an organist job. That's a decision he'll greatly regret. 2100 years ago, the best religion in the world was Judaiasm. I know about Judaiasm. I know what they believe. But then along comes Jesus Christ. Born of the virgin Mary, he lived a sinless life, the only one ever to do so. He taught the people, healed the sick, raised the dead. He gave the normal use of his eyes to a man more than 40 years old who had been born blind. Then Jesus died for our sins. Had he not done so, we'd all have to go to hell. But now, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, we can go to heaven when our lives on earth are over. So Judaism became the second best religion, Christianity being the real thing. But Jesus said, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are that go in thereat. Narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are that find it." Thus, most people go to hell. And once one goes to hell, it's forever. Jesus told about two men, a beggar named Lazarus, and a rich man, whose name Jesus doesn't tell us. But he did have a name, of course, because Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man who wore purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously." (He feasted every day.) "And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at the rich man's gate, and desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table." Both men died. When Lazarus died, the angels carried him to Abraham's bosom. The rich man died, and was buried, and in hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, Jesus said. The rich man said, "Father Abraham, send Lazarus, so he can dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." Abraham answered, "Son, you know how that in your lifetime, you received your good things, and he received evil things, but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And beside all this, there is this great gulf fixed between us, so that if anyone wanted to come from here to there, or from there to here, he couldn't. When you die, Bob, it's only your body that dies; when your body dies, that's not the end of you. So then, Jesus continued, the rich man said, "Then send Lazarus back to earth because I have five brothers, and I don't want them to come to this place of torment." Abraham answered the rich man, "They have Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) and the prophets, let them hear them." The rich man said, "No, Father Abraham, but if someone went back from the dead they'd believe." Abraham said, "If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they wouldn't believe even if someone went back from the dead." Now the Jehovah's Witnesses say there's no hell. But Jesus said there is a hell, and that most people go there. So someone's lying, and Bob, I know the liar is not Jesus. I really don't think you have time to read all the books you have on comparative religions and then come to the right conclusion. Luckily, you have a friend, me, who has already done the comparison of religions, and I'm happy to be able to inform you that what you need, just like everyone else in the world, is Jesus, and the Christian religion, as set forth in the Holy Bible. Personally, I prefer the King James version of the Bible, which came out in about 1611, in England. There's also a "New King James Version" that came out in about 1975 in the U.S., but I believe the first one is better. You have said, "Your religion is your belief." Yes, Bob. Christianity is my belief, but also, I absolutely know that it's right. I've lived 67 years. By now, I would have found what was better than Christianity if there had been anything better, but there's not. Bernie Marston, Chief Engineer of TV station KHOF, didn't know what to do about the problem of the "doorbell" diodes blowing out in the high voltage power supply. I came along and solved the problem. In the Army, when I was transferred to Direct Support Detachment in Ui Jong Bu, Korea, there was a radar there no one had been able to repair for three months. Without turning on the switch for antenna rotation, the antenna would rotate anyway. I fixed the problem. At Applied Technology Division of Litton Industries, there was a problem with the Lord Byron program. Some said it was a hardware problem. Some said it was a software problem. I knew both the hardware and software and fixed the problem. At Agile Corp., San Jose, CA, I told my boss, Bob Torrey, you know, we have a 1K version and a 2K version of our protocol converter product, but actually the IBM specification allows us to do a 2K version with only 1K of memory chips. Bob said, "There was some reason why that couldn't be done." I said, "Well, anyway, I did it." The achievements I've done, I did with the help of God the Father, and his son, Jesus, and God's Holy Spirit. While I was married, and working as an Electronics Technician in Houston, the Lord gave a little vision to my wife, and showed her the Lord at like a blackboard teaching me. I didn't see the Lord as he taught me, but I'm sure that he was actually teaching me. Jesus is the greatest man who ever lived. Before he lived on earth he was the co-creator with God the Father of the earth, and man, and the animals, and the birds, and the fish, and the whales. Jesus is older than Adam, the first man. I've heard from Jesus several times. I told you about how he said to me, "Let both grow together until the harvest." (from the parable of the tares & wheat.) But also, when I was having trouble in my marriage, I asked him about it, and he gave me an answer. Jesus also gave me a promise. He said, "Your seed shall be as the sand of the sea." In other words, uncountable, unless you can count the grains of sand on the sea shores of the world. Now that promise was first given to Abraham, and God was talking about Abraham's descendants genealogically. But in my case, I believe the Lord doesn't mean my natural decendants, but rather, my spiritual children--those whom I get converted to salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Don't be afraid of men, who after they have killed, can't do anything more to you. But I will forewarn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed, can throw you into hell." And who is that, Bob? Well, that's God. I hope you'll choose salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Bob. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." But if you reject Jesus, the sacrificial lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (for his followers), then you will forever regret it, my friend. Fred