"It?s just that the aggressive Jesus shoving really annoys me."
I don't see that I was aggressive in my mention of Jesus.
I like Him alot. I know what He has done for me. I don't have an expectation on you to do anything about Jesus. I am not your (or anyone's) conscience and tend to get irritated with hard sells even when it comes to something as wonderful as Jesus. We see this done alot, and people "convert", then just as quickly change their mind, because they weren't really ready to "go that route".
So I mention Jesus casually, because He is the driving passion of my life. It is the majority of who I am.
On the other hand, Jesus will wreck one's life and one will be hated by people everywhere if one lives for Him and cleaves to Him. Scripture is clear on this point. An angel who appeared to me as a man, a friend, told me once, "if we really knew what it meant to be Christians (prior to saying "yes"), we would never have gotten saved...". I thought he was kidding at first because he was smiling, but he was totally serious.
So, logically speaking, no one should ever get saved unless they are either gluttons for punishment, or unless they are smitten with love and want to live for ever. Either way, logic is gone and replaced with excessive, unbalanced, emotionally-charged fanaticism. :silly:
I hope this clarifies things a little. No hard sell here. Jesus may not be for you at all. It's too late for me though. I know what He has done for me.
_____________
As for the apology, it is sufficient. It seems that Carmel has taken to bat for me on this subject which I appreciated, but now I think we should be drop the strong language for the sake of unity. There are people who may be reading these posts and we need to promote a safer environment here for their sake.
Thank you for standing up for me, Carmel. It took courage to do this. But I don't want to be a source of division on this board. So, I hope you can find it in your heart to move on from this thing. I think Morli misunderstood where I was coming from and has apologized the best way Morli could.
______________
My parents are in town. We are having a good visit. A drastic change from when I was getting high only a couple years prior. They tried to understand me, but the brainwashing prevented them somewhat. Now that I am sober, they don't feel like failures or something, I suppose. I don't have the heart to set the record straight about Straight. I think they are too old to process that information without blowing a fuse, so I am glad that I can come here and share with you guys what I can't share with them. Good night.