Updated Conversation

Initial Assignment Response

What is the center of my purpose?

As a devout Christian, I am dedicated to the glorification of God. I know this. The questions initiate as I consider all that wonderful persons I could be, all the magnificent feats I could accomplish, and all that I could potentially change or augment. I often ponder the impact my legacy will leave. I strive to be the best I can be, to always improve, and to enter the kingdom of heaven with the words of reassurance and congratulation in my ears. This is philosophy on a personal note, yet philosophy nonetheless. It is home to some of the most deeply implanted subject matter ever explored my man. "Why am I here?" as it has been phrased before me. Metaphysical in essence, ethical in practice, and aesthetic and nature, it is my deepest and most fascinated concept of philosophy. It is crucial to my being and the justification my being. It is the cornerstone of my faith and the source of my hope. I have high expectation for myself, the one I wish most to entirely meet and thoroughly exceed.

 

It is pertinent to my future and vitally connected to my past. I feel that my purpose is best fulfilled ever on the move. From the time I was born, I have never lived in a place for more than a couple of years. I lived in Portland, Oregon for five sequential years but that was the extent of my immobility. I had attended seven schools by the seventh grade, eight by the ninth. Ever the optimist, I have embraced each change with open arms, open eyes, and a fired up heart. I love the people of my journeys, the leadership of my Lord, and the influence of my actions. I make a postive impact on the people I come in connect with. I serve to the best of my ability and fulfill my capablity. I have been rewarded with the fruits of knowledge throughout my travels. I have been impressed by my usage. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze. A servant of all, a lover of many, and a fighter of adversity, I am designated to be the best I can be and to always hold to what is true, what is right, what is just, and what is pleasing to my Savior. Let this be my battle cry and my inspiration as I go out into the world. I am what I have made myself and have been made by others. I am determined to improve.

 

For now, that is my purpose. By the time of my arrival upon deathbed, it may have changed many times. It may even have been fulfilled. Then I can rest in peace.

 

Sorry for the extremity, but this is what I take seriously. This is who I am. This is what I have committed the essence of my being to. It is the philosophy in which I am most fascinated and fixated. It is the fuel by which I operate. This may not have been designated as the place to pour out my soul, but for myself, what place is not? Why not behave to the maximum of my capability wherever I am.. taking the skill of moderation into account. I have my strengths and my weaknesses. This is who I am and have become. This might just be the current center of my purpose. Thank you.  

1st Comment

I'm with you every step of the way here. I, too, am a devout Christian. I've had some experiences that have strengthened my faith to the extent that all doubt is absent from my mind. But anyways, good post -- keep it up.

- Zane

2nd Comment

Do you think that after you die, you can ask God what your purpose was, if He hasn't informed you by the time you die?

And do you think that you will have discovered what your ultimate purpose(s) was/were by looking back on your life when you are on your deathbead?

Just out of curiosity.

- Falon

3rd Comment

What birthed your faith? Was it something you've grown to foster on your own or were you influenced by your zealots of parents? Do you believe you owe your faith to yourself, or simply to the lord? Could you ever imagine a world without religion? 

- Ryan

First Response

Three pretty different responses. Nice to find a bro in Zane Zglobicki, thanks for the encouragement and if there's something that loves company more than misery, it's joy. I'm also fascinated and enjoy the challenge of the other two questions.

Falon: I do believe that I will be able to ask any question of the only truly omniscient being in the eternity of existence and because of the perfection of his loving grace I can expect a perfect answer. If I have not figured it out by then, completely, then I will be able to verify with all certainty in heaven. 

I do not know whether I will have discovered my ultimate purpose upon my deathbed. I will have all of my accomplishments accounted for and my life behind me, which is the primary reason I listed that moment. Because that's when everything's in the past. If we're the sum of the elements of our past, the picture is ever becoming more and more complete. So logically, the closer I get to the end of my time here on Earth, I'll have the best image I'll ever get of who I am and what I've done. It's complex, and I'm just stepping in the door so I really don't understand it very well and consequentially my articulation may be unclear. I just don't fully understand it myself.

I do hope that I recognize it before I die, though, because then I'll have more time to act on it.

 

Ryan:

This is a pretty interesting question, and I don't think it's really a cooincidence I've just read your statement of religion. You said you weren't "religious," that you weren't atheist, agnostic, or fundamentally established in any one way or another. I don't know if this flexibility or coerced neutrality. Either way, it's impressive as far as willpower goes. Admirable in its sense.

My parents were never especially zealots, just the occasionally solid Christians (but one for the most part =)). They were 18  and 19 when I was born, high school sweethearts, and now they're in a progressing state of divorce. It's very onesided and credited to a difference in beliefs. I was the lump in my mom's stomach during their marriage. My dad was among the stars of the football team, had a full ride scholarship to Willamette University (which at the time time was Division 2) for football and academics and a pretty impressive young man. He wasn't really raised a Christian, I don't know if he's been baptized, and his faith is based more on the practice of religion than the quality of his relationship with God. He doesn't really like to talk about it very much, and it seems more a system of rules and habits for him.

My mom was the daughter of a pastor. This man, my grandfather, always challenged me mentally and spiritually and was a definite source throughout the development of my faith. He was a hard worker raised in Pasadena, California before enrolling in what was originally called Chico State University, now known as California State University, Chico. He held a full course load in seminary, learning Hebrew and Greek while tending to his livestock at home. Very impressive to me. He taught me virtues. At the age of sixty-five, he's currently a professor and a part time preacher in Silverton, Oregon.

The reason they had such a profound impact on me most likely has to do with the fact that I spent so much time at their house. As a very young couple, my dad was caught up in college studies and work while my mom was working up the ranks of banks. I would be dropped off at their house almost every morning and not picked up until evening. My grandma is the one I credit with my earliest education. She spent so many hours reading me books that I started reading like a fanatic at age three and was invested in Walt Whitman and Jack London while I lived in Alabama at age six.

So, they had a considerable impact upon me spiritually. My faith was never theirs, although they did their best to foster it. They always had theirs and I always had mine. I guess it majorly came from within. The calling of the Holy Spirit within me, as it is so commonly phrased. It's a church cliche and I hate to say it, but English has its limits. I also read my Bible a lot, but mostly because it was the proper church boy thing to do. As well as to remain silent in church, to sit up straight in the pews, and to always look straight forward and take careful notes on the sermon. It was a practice. It was rigid. It was formalized and it was in no way personal. I lived out the negative side of church reputation. I was very bright, however, and made considerably astute observations for my age. That was a blessing and a curse, it confined my religion to a mentality rather than a spirituality. It was strictly law.

Eventually, a boy comes to the point in which he must challenge the rules of authority. He must try out his own way and follow the likeness of his peers. A year after starting to play football, I basically abandoned God. I wanted to be, and was probably considered to be, one of the coolest kids in the school. In a very worldly sense. Of course this is the sixth grade. I went crazy in the typical way. It was mostly a product of boredom.

You see, there is this is school in Beaverton, Oregon, that was established for the cream of the crop. It is called SUMMA Academy. It has two campuses. It provides services for the 6th through 8th graders who score within or above the 99th percentile on state testing, in all three sections. I fell one percentile short in mathematics and was declined. I fell into the standard classes and it bored the hell out of me.

Then, at the end of the year, I retook the tests for the hell of it and basically got the scores required and then some. I didn't think too much of it. I was fixed in that lifestyle: slavery to sin, if you will. I liked what I was feeling in this new lifestyle and didn't really want to leave. I was connected to the world and detached from the universe. I was hardly a Christian, if by definition you interpret it as a "Little Christ" or "follower of Christ['s example.]" But my parents forced me into the socially dead environment of SUMMA. Nobody talked in classes. Everybody was fixated on their studies. Grades were life or death. There was no social aspect there for me to get involved in, and I hardly had the time. Inbred with a desire to socialize, I continued to play football. I had a good season, athletically and socially, but when it ended I was left high and dry. No where to go but youth group.

My life was never the same.

My relationship with Christ became personal.

I felt more connected than I ever had before.

I didn't care when my Dad acted out his bipolar episodes.

All because I had something else to rely on. Something that was truly made of gold.

And I, of course, held on to my flaws. But I loved the challenge and the reward of overcoming them.

My favorite part was that I wasn't really the one doing it; God was.

And from then on, I've been living and learning, serving and striving and thriving. Fixing flaws, struggling, and doing the best I possibly could.

Then realizing that wasn't good enough and that God was the only one that really could. And that letting him do it required a kind of humility and malleability that I could honestly take pride in.

I was connected with the right kinds of people. Ever since, I've felt spiritually out of place with those who don't believe as I do. I'm not the best evangelist, but I'm a good friend of mostly non-Christian people. That's the way we Christians are called to live, however, different, set apart, "holy." 

And I feel like God's been doing a pretty incredible job through me, despite all my imperfections and shortcomings.

And I'm so glad you asked, because this kind of the way He told me where my faith was birthed. Just now. 

Thanks to you and whatever drove you to ask. Thank you.

Sorry to bore you ceaselessly with a life story, I'll skip a few lines so that if you're scrolling down to skip the boring parts you might find your other answers.

 

 

What God has given me in my life and the entailed miracules he has performed birthed and continue to birth my faith.

It was influenced by my parents, my grandparents, my friends, my youth pastors, my worship leaders, miscellaneous family friends, assorted members of the body of Christ, and most of all our glorious God.

I owe the origins of my faith to the aforementioned; I owe my humilities and malleabilities to the abilities God has embedded within me.

Religion is a funny term, because if you look carefully and analyze it in the dictionary, its multiple meanings mean very different things.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Chico+state#hl=en&safe=off&q=religion&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=jKwwT__fGMjz0gH3kOmHCg&ved=0CCoQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=56c688f775f9feb&biw=1280&bih=709

 

I personally tend to think of it much more as the "pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance" than the others. It is the "center of my [modifer:eternal] purpose" in that regard. A world without this religion would exist much like that of a world without philosophy. Mindless babboons sitting blankly, accomplishing nothing, essentially nonexistential beings. Breathing may be one man's religion, but I would die a martyr proudly and consider it one of the highest honors. The service and glorification of my God is my religion. Christianity is my practice.

A world without the more commonly thought of definition, "The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods," would be depressing. All would be confused. There would be no wars because there would be nothing to passionately fight over. There would be no salvation. In consequence, life would be fruitless. What would be the point? I can imagine this world, but not fondly. Thanks for the picture, asshole. (Just so you know, I'm just kidding bro with that last part.. watch out for my humor, it's occasionally impolite and easy to misinterpret. I trash the viewers of my journal pretty thoroughly.)

The second definition is much like that of philosophy: "details of belief as taught or discussed." We've all looked into this, and it's not a pretty place either. The absence of which, I mean. Again, chaos and confusion would be rampant.

A world without the third definition would be A-okay! We don't need a "particular system of faith and worship," just as we don't need a particular system of falling in love or parenting. There's no need for a formula of this kind of relationship, just faith. Christians like myself believe Jesus Christ set the perfect example for us and how to lead our lives. He was the one man who lived entirely blamelessly and ended up taking our punishment for it anyway all in order to fulfill God's code of justice. The most epic sacrifice ever, I'd say. Best part is that it's true. Not to mention he conquered and eliminated the threat of death for "whosoever believes in him." That part's pretty cool as well, I'd say.

But yep.. there's my answer.

Ever watched the videos of bball1989? He and I are in agreement on a lot of things.

Here's his page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/bball1989

 

Here's a video about Religion, Jesus, and the difference (*the one you might be interested in*):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY&list=UUc4yillQaNo6a-iG2PYbbrA&index=3&feature=plcp

5th Comment

(I apolagize for any minor errors, i only had one class to write this up and i really wanted to respond to you in the best way you deserve)

I've been touched by your response. I'd lie if i said this hasn't affected me on a deeper level than most people ever could. You see recently I’ve been falling upon hard times, and from what you told and shown me i think i just might be okay. Listen, you've taken the time to tell me your past, so why not return the favor? 

My parents never saw eye to eye. From the day i was born there were problems all around me. I struck out every day of my life at a young age. I yearned for the attention that was diverted between my parents. I needed that love that only parents happily together could give. I didn't have it. I became bitter when they split and through grade school i showed promise none the less. I cared little for what the teachers told me and did what i wanted. Everything i did reflected that mentality. I was my own person and planned to live that way.

My father was born into a household of many, many children. He was a delinquent. He was everything i was going to become. He drank and smoked all day, dealt any drug he could get his hands on and almost failed out of school. It was only in his senior year of the technical school he regrettably attended did he realize what a mistake his life thus far has been. It was in that moment did he decide to turn his life around. My father worked on cars and still does to this day. The man is miserable with the life hes made, and drinks like a fish. However I love him more than anyone. Upon his realization that he threw his life away, he started his own journey of self preservation. My father has read all the classics and has made his own education. He’s the most intelligent man i know between people and in the books. He’s crafty, handy, and above all else loving. He’s my role model. 

My mother grew up in a tough situation. She was the oldest of 3 and was borne of abuse. Her mother and father were abusive, but many Portuguese parents were back then. They chose physical punishment in opposition to a stern talking to. My mother always caught the blame for anything my aunt and uncle did. She cared for them and had to work for everything she had. Nowadays, her mental state is degrading. She also was something of a delinquent, but has matured far past it. She loves me unconditionally now as well, and for this i am lucky. Going through her second divorce (was never married to my father, i am an out-of-wedlock child) has worsened her condition. I still love her, but at times it becomes difficult as she takes her frustrations out on me.

Fast forward to middleschool. I still fostered no religious feelings and was indifferent to a religious preference. I fell in love young and early. She changed my life forever even so young, and we were together for a year. The fallout of this relationship is something i still feel today. I was emotionally crippled and became something of a womanizer. I've gained my reputation even nowadays in high school as being a womanizer. Its not something im proud of, but its life. This reputation caused many dark nights of the soul (though no one knows of these episodes) in which i would reflect on everything in my life. It was in these moments where i wrestled depression and had to overcome many dark, dark thoughts. It was in these moments i refuted any belief for god. Why could someone so almighty and all knowing do something so horrible to me? I couldn't escape it. My intelligence, like yourself, is above average. I soon began to contemplate my actual stance on religion. As i entered high school i became a steadfast Atheist. However even atheist harbors many unsavory titles and is seen as a sort of religion in itself. It merely represents the lack of faith. To this day i lack faith. No one can change that, but i have good reason.

I have a grasp on all of my impulses that used to control my life. I no longer am on the miserable path my father once was. I have aspirations to become a fighter pilot for the AirForce. However these goals will not be reached by anyone but me. Through all the hardships in my life i've relied on no one but myself. Sure, i've become callous because of it. But i've also learned much of other people. I don't dwell in the constructs of god, because god cannot and will not directly help me. I know how the premise of "religion" works. In faith motivation prospers, and with that motivation nothing can get in your way. You place your faith in your construct of god and his morals and values. This drives your ambition, and i admire you for it. However i am stuck in my worldly plane of reality. I prefer it here. Dwelling in the reality of the situation, to be mentally liberated in the physical realm is something i strive for and have to some degree achieved. 

However, through all this there is still much to be learned from "religion." Some of the morals and values are not dated, and in fact are something most of the country lacks. I looked through much of bball1898's videos and i've come to a conclusion. Much of what he preaches is true. Much of what you stand for is something that needs to be acknowledged. However i've spent too much time in the harsh realities of this world to truly believe in the logistics of religion. God to me cannot exist as he is described in the bible, or any other religious construct. Even if he does exist, he is not a god i wish to follow. An almighty power who turns his back on the fallacies of human behavior. A god who is all knowing, yet punished based on what should be the anticipated actions of the very things he has created is not one in which i wish to serve. You have enlightened me sir, and i will look upon those who are religious with new eyes. However, i myself must stay atheist because reality is something i simply cannot escape. I put my faith in myself only, and not any construct of a zealot. 

Thank you sir. I've really enjoyed this trade of belief. You've truly helped my current situation, which is anything, in my opinion, but good. Thank you.

-Ryan MacDonald, an enlightened student.

Second Response

I won't say too much because it's simply not my place, but firstly, I want to thank you in the simplest of terms for your openness. It was very much a relief and a welcome illumination, yet it was also enough to break my heart for you. I'm undescribably glad that my explanation helped you somehow, I didn't know if it would fall on open ears or not and peace of mind was simply out of reach until I heard back from you. I didn't know if I would receive a response, yet I'm mentionably glad I did. You come from a rough background. You've seen and heard some terrible things, you've experienced hell. Yet you simultaneously and courageously kept your eyes and ears open to the world. You take things as you percieve them, and in the most realistic means possible. You must be incredibly strong.

I am not trying to convert you. I'm not trying to judge and I'm not trying to hurt. I do feel for you though, unimaginably. I've had my fair share of shit happen to me as well so I know where you're coming from. I'm not going to brag of my honesty, my humility, or my perseverence in the face of suffering, simply because I don't believe my abilities are my own. I don't believe I act in my own power, and I do believe that God has been the direct fuel of my fire, like you say he cannot ever help even though you admit if he indeed exists, he is all powerful. This seems like a contradiction in terms. One of the most encouraging things I have ever read comes directly from Paul's epistle to the Romans; "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." I believe that our sufferings can be the source of our strength, just as one forces his body to undergo the tribulation of exercise in order to increase its might so that it might build up stronger than it was before. I additionally believe that because God is an almighty god of the love required to sacrifice the life of His own son for me, that he doesn't mind sacrificing a second or two to help me through difficult math quizzes or other trivial affairs. I rely on the spirit within me, which I credit as His, and it pulls me through. I agree he can and will always help and care for me directly, even if it feels like the world's collapsing around me. I know the troubles I undergo will eventually work together for my good. And this gives me a hope that's beyond compare.

I will continue to pray for your happiness and wellbeing. I wish you all the best and hope this trade of beliefs has not caused any rift between us. I am a principle-based individual and will not back away from the defense and explanation of my deepest ground beliefs, but I have recieved your message, gained admiration for you from it, and am astoundedly glad and appreciative of your open ears, open lips, and open heart.

All the best to you, bro.

7th Comment

Something remains out of my comprehension through all of this. How, in all that has happened and will happen, do you hold true to your faith? Why do you follow a God who turns his back on the good and gives praise to the evil? Why, if he may be all knowing, does the lord choose to turn his back to all the injustice this world has produced? I propose to you, is that a god worth following? One who cares little for the grand well being of the very creatures he created? To me, the idea of the lord in this sense is like a mother who only guides her child, even in its infancy to its needs, but never provides them. Can you imagine a mother who never fed her child, but only gave the child the MEANS to be led to food? Would you love that mother, and not grow to detest all of the things she failed to provide you?

- Ryan

Most Recent Response

I've heard this several times, actually. It's one of the greatest questions of faith. I hold true to my faith because it's constantly being affirmed, it's self-sufficient if you will. Here's the way things go down: Life naturally brings along troubles of varying degree. In each trial is something to be learned. I can take joy in this, because I know the negative things that I go through will ultimately lead me to a higher state of being, more developed into the man I was designed to become. I see miracles everywhere I go, things that couldn't have happened without some kind of puppetmaster behind it all. Some call the hand of God fate, but when they give credit to fate's power, aren't they acknowledging a higher power, a being, perhaps? Sounds like fate can be just another name for God, particularly pertaining to his actions and consistent providence.

I doubt you've had children yet, but think about the way mothers do allow their children to "suffer." A mother who lets her child cry itself to sleep at night is providing that baby with self-reliance, as well as the lesson that there are things that he can do on his own without her constant aid, which may lead to confidence or other desirable traits in a person. As the mother provides her child with a learning experience masked in suffering, the child grows. You could say the mother is turning her back on the injustice of her child's discomfort, what has he done to deserve it? Nothing, really. Yet she allows him to grow accordingly. You could additionally think of this instance as experiential sustenance, or "food," that will propel the child's growth. 

But she also hates doing it, and it's one of the hardest things a mother has to do for her child. Holding back her care is much harder and takes a toll far greater than indulging it all of the time. The child would become too dependent upon his mother if she gave into his will all of the time, and wouldn't that in itself be an insult to her superior wisdom and personal purpose? It would be both a waste of her talents and counterproduction to the child's personal development. The child could remain an infant forever. No perseverance, no character, essentially no self esteem. No possession of learned abilities. No pursuit of knowledge. Think of all the royalty that has been driven insane historically from receiving everything on a golden platter. Some were entirely incapable of making any personal decisions or acting in any way for themselves.

You propose that this god is not a god worth following. I propose that his allowance of us to do great and mighty work on our own, away from his direct involvement, is a care of its own far more powerful than undying servitude. This world produces injustice, God detests it but allows it to take place in order to make us stronger and to give us a means as to how to use the capabilities he has granted us. Originally, all was perfect if we obeyed him. You undoubtedly know the story of the Garden of Eden. It was man who failed God, not the other way around. Man is easily corruptible. Man is born into a sinful nature.

God cares grandly to the little well being of us as the creatures of his Creation. With faith, I've been able to do things I wouldn't have been able to do any other way. I didn't even understand what I was doing, most of the time, during the majority of my grandest accomplishments. Securely wrapped in his arms, he provides me with both blessings, encouragement, and trials to strengthen me. He increases the weight when he wants me to grow most, just as we do in the weight room. If we lifted the bar alone and simply went through the motions without the adversity of weight, would we have ever gotten any stronger? Would we have our doubly consecutive state titles? Certainly not. In all honesty, we would be pathetic weaklings dresses up as warriors of the gridiron. There are spiritual forces at work against us, opponents of the football field, if you will, that eternally strive to corrupt us. That give us doubt. That provoke us to question the fabrics of God's work in our lives. That provoke us to ponder the very existence of our maker. To deny the sacrifices he has made, the undying omnicapability he owns. To work against the plans for us, against nature, and ultimately against ourselves. Without the strength of the challenges God provides, how able would we be to stand up against such oppression and negative influence? Essentially powerless.

You brought up an additional point. That you believe God praises evil. His word and his works constantly state otherwise. I don't know if you believe the historical accounts of the Bible, but there is many an occasion under which God allows Satan to destroy lives. To try and crush spirits. To drain victims of the very hope in their lives. He does allow evil to happen, but he does not praise it. He condemns those who commit evil, never repent, and never accept his sacrifice to eternal suffering. Satan himself will burn eternally once the legacy of the world has come to a close. He actively vanquishes it. Have you heard the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah? God made it rain fire on these cities, whether that came from a nearby volcano or the clouds themselves is up for debate, but he basically destroyed them for their "general wickedness." They were oppresors of the divine, of angels. Rapists. Not one man aside from Lot could be found righteous in those cities. Evil was rampant and God destroyed it. Jesus was sent to eliminate the threat of death once and for all and grant eternal life in heaven, that's a pretty direct gift by the way. Salvation. Instead of eternal suffering, eternal residence in the mansions of heaven? Sounds pretty sick to me. In a good way. At this same time, all who have led sinful lives against God and rejected salvation will be condemend to this eternal suffering of hell. 

Here's an atheist's view on that concept of Hell (in a ways.. he talks about hell like a truck), and you might recognize him as Penn of the magician duo Penn and Teller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhG-tkQ_Q2w

Evil is adverse to God. God is adverse to evil. God allows it to strengthen us by overcoming it, but I believe it bothers him to do so. Just as a mother hates to let her child cry, like you said. The mother who feeds her child these negative experiences is also serving opportunities to grow. Admittedly, she does spoonfeed an infant from time to time. She lets the troubles escalate as she sees fit for her child, according to her knowledge of his skills. She doesn't give them more than they can handle, and if she does, she will always help her child through these instances. God does exactly the same if we let Him. If as the the child grew in his these abilities granted him and grows prideful of them, perhaps a day will come when he rejects her providence. He actively pushes it away. He might even attack his mother with the skills she embedded in him. That's the sick part, isn't it? When we go against God? When we bite the hand that so faithfully feeds us?

A mother knows her child better than the child does himself.

A mother knows what her child can handle better than he does himself.

And the best part is that she's not God.

God is reguarly called our perfect, heavenly father because of his providence. It is an analogy he set up. It's a great picture.

And he's not abusive, he's not neglective. He takes care of His children. And why not, when he is so almighty?

If you feel comfortable reading a section of the Bible (I don't know if you do,) then please follow this link and read the words of Jesus himself. Press the right arrows >> and stop when it says Matthew 7:11 at the top. It's where this all comes from. Where it's promised:

http://bible.cc/matthew/7-7.htm

Let me know if I missed any of your questions. Thank you again for questioning me and my faith, this is as much a great learning experience for me as it is for you. It's an excellent workout, really. I love it and really appreciate your questions and interest.