Invitation to Accept Jesus as My Savior

I received an email two weeks ago from an ex-high school classmate named Brian encouraging me (and all our classmates) to "invite Jesus in our hearts as our Lord and Savior." Our parochial,, co-ed Catholic high school in Greenwich, CT, was small enough that we all knew each other.

My first instinct was to respond -- not angrily nor disrespectfully -- but with that touch of superiority often adopted by agnostics and athiests when responding to religious believers. In other words, "We're smarter than you." My initial response, which I wrote but did not send, adopted that tone. I'm so glad I didn't send it. I would have embarrassed myself!

I later wrote a revised response, which I DID mail. I've appended it below. Irish-Catholic Brian was a regular guy in high school, and later a successful Madison Avenue copywriter.

Brian's email arrived out of the blue and surprised everyone. Got a few emails ridiculing him, which were not shared with "all classmates." I went back and forth about whether I should respond at all. When no one else did, I decided I would.

Brian's original email is followed by my response, then his counter-response, and my response back. All but the last exchange were shared with "all classmates."

About 5% wrote to me said they agreed with me. To my surprise, no one I heard from disagreed, although I assume that those who did kept silent about it.

Here's Brian's original email to the entire Classmate list:

December 22, 2008

Dear Former Classmates –

Receiving my contact booklet today with all the happy reunion pictures, I relived again the joy Maureen and I shared with you all on that memorable occasion this September. But I must confess, that joy was quickly dampened by the sad realization that it will probably be the last time we will ever see most of you again. I doubt very much there will be enough of us still standing in 2033 to justify reconvening for our 75th. No matter how hard Bev, Steve, Larry and Marsha work to make it happen!
That’s why I’d like to share with you all a truth I discovered several years after graduating from SMHS that guarantees we will be able to celebrate one more reunion someday. And that it will be the best one ever!
In all the excitement I didn’t mention to anyone that I had just written a book. I doubt it will become a best seller, but it was my attempt to tell the amazing story of what happened to me and my family starting in 1973.
In a word, I met God. The funny thing was I wasn’t even looking for Him. Like many of you, I suspect, I thought I already knew Him. I was a practicing Catholic at the time and quite certain (and thankful) that I was in the one true religion that Jesus had founded. Therefore I was confident I was in God’s good graces and was heaven bound (even if I had to spend an appropriate amount of time in purgatory first). All that was required, as the good fathers and nuns had instructed us, was that I continue to live a good life, go to confession whenever I messed up (which was more often than I cared to count), attend Mass, receive the sacraments as often as possible, and raise our children in the faith.
But then one day I had the strangest experience that made me stop and think that maybe things weren’t exactly as we had been told.
Mo and I had just moved to Old Greenwich with our three children (soon to be four). I was commuting to Manhattan each day where I worked as a copywriter in one of the city’s largest advertising agencies. This day I was sitting on a barstool having lunch and chatting with two men I knew casually from the office. Soon our discussion centered on the existence of God and it became clear that one man was an atheist and the other an agnostic. Since I definitely believed in God it quickly became two against one. But in the middle of the discussion I suddenly found myself strangely removed from it all. That is, my mouth continued to speak but I was somehow outside myself, listening in as an observer. And in that moment I realized that everything I knew about God had not been from firsthand experience, but had been told to me by someone else. My parents. My teachers. The nuns and priests. Or Thomas Aquinas, whose writings I had studied in college and was now quoting to my two lunch companions. In other words, all I really knew about God was hearsay. I had never actually met Him myself. So the truth was I really didn’t know if He existed. I knew about Him, like I knew about Benjamin Franklin - but I didn’t know Him!
No sooner did that thought come crashing in, when I was confronted by another reality check. My own hypocrisy. Although I thought of myself as a good Catholic, I became painfully aware of how shallow my Christianity really was. The truth was my religion was like a raincoat I put on Sunday and took off on Monday. The rest of the week, all my thoughts and actions were far from God.
I left that luncheon shaken to the core. And I resolved to get to the bottom of it all. Was God real or not? Or was He like Santa Clause, a childhood fantasy. What’s more, how did my Catholicism fit into all this? Was it necessary? And if not, how does He want me to serve Him? I truly felt He existed, but now I needed more proof.
That sent me on an intense search, and I took full advantage of all the means the Church made available for someone to draw close to God. But after a year of reading every Catholic book I could get my hands on, of praying rosaries, novenas and saintly petitions, of wearing scapulas and miraculous medals, and of attending Mass and the sacraments every time they opened the church doors, I still hadn’t gotten answers to any of my questions.
That’s when God had mercy and rescued me from all my efforts. On a Marriage Encounter weekend, the presence of God literally came into our room in a beam of light and He began to speak to me, telling me how much He loved me, and how He had literally designed me in my mother’s womb for a special purpose. (This is true for all of us according to Psalm 139.) Mo also experienced Him, but in a different way. Our lives have never been the same since.
If you like, you can read the whole story of this amazing encounter in my book and what happened to us afterwards. Just go to my web site, www.bhennessy.com. There’s also a shorter version of our story in the article section.
But I want to give you the bottom line on what I discovered. I found that knowing God and serving Him has nothing to do with religion. Not Catholicism. Not Protestanism. Not Judaism. Not Buddhism. Not any religion. It’s not about what we must do to reach Him, but about what He has already done to reach us. He sent Jesus, Israel’s Messiah. And Jesus did all the work necessary to reconcile us to God. He paid the bill for the sins of all and now God is saying – “just believe it, and I will welcome you with open arms.” Not only will He give us the assurance of heaven (with no side trip to purgatory), but He will give us His Holy Spirit so we have His power and provision and love working in our lives right now. In my book, I share how He supernaturally provided all our financial needs when we were completely out of money, for example.
As Catholics we believed Jesus died for our sins and rose again. But just knowing about Him – or even believing in Him – isn’t enough. Heck, even the Devil believes in Him – and he isn’t going to heaven. No, if we want to get the full benefit of what Jesus did for us on the cross we have to take a step of faith. We have to bet it all on what the Bible tells us He did for us is true. That we are truly forgiven and that we don’t have to do one more bloomin religious thing to win His acceptance. And if we believe that, then He wants us to invite Him to come into our heart (our spirit) to live His life in us. The joy and the peace that follows will feel like we have been reborn. And we will be – spiritually.
If you have never actually experienced God’s love in this way, and would like to know Him in the intimacy of your own heart right now, I’ll show you how. It’s real simple. Just read this prayer out loud.

“Dear Father in Heaven, I have broken many of your Ten Commandments which reveals that I am a sinner at heart. Because no matter how hard I try I keep failing. But I am truly sorry for my sins. And I believe Jesus died so I could receive your forgiveness and friendship. Please come into my heart right now and wash away the stain of my sinfulness and make me brand new on the inside. Place your Holy Spirit in me that I might know you and serve you from now on, and have your peace that passes understanding. Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayer. And now by faith I receive your forgiveness, love, joy and peace. Amen.”

If you just prayed that prayer from the heart, you need to do three things to cement it in place. I know from experience the Devil will come along and try to talk you out of it. He’ll whisper in your ear that “nothing really happened.” Or “it isn’t that simple.” YES IT IS!
What I suggest you do is tell the next three people you meet that you just invited Jesus to come into your heart as Lord and Savior. The biblical principle is to believe in our heart but confess it with our mouth. (See Roman 10: 9,10). If we really believe something we’ll say it. And then it becomes real. I can’t explain it, I just know that’s the way it works.
Then you need to get a good Bible, if you don't have one already, and start reading it. That’s where we find all the truths we need to live as true followers of Christ. My favorite is the New American Standard, but the New International Version is okay too. The Living Bible is a paraphrase, but very easy to read. Forget the King James, it’s too archaic. Start in the New Testament with the Book of John. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you are reading. The Bible is a spiritual book – so you need spiritual help to really get the message. Then let me know you prayed the prayer so I can be praying for you.
And that’s how we can all be assured of enjoying our next reunion - in the next life. Merry Christmas!
Love - Brian Hennessy, Class of ‘58

P.S. I can tell you that you won’t need to practice any form of religion from now on, but that will be a scary step to take at first. It’s very hard to let go of that safety net because we can’t believe salvation is a free gift. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). We have been so trained by this world system to believe that nothing is ever free, that we think we still have to pay for our salvation with lots of religious activity. Like going to church and keeping holy days and obeying all kinds of religious laws. But we don’t. In fact, my family hasn’t belonged to or attended a church service in 30 years. And we have enjoyed God’s love and blessings every day. Our standing with God is not based on works, but on faith in Jesus. Once our acceptance of Jesus is settled, THEN God directs us to do His work by faith - the only work that counts in His Kingdom. The religious stuff won’t count for bupkus. But the Lord will lead you into all truth as you move forward.

Here's my first response to Brian's email, which I wrote yesterday and have decided not to send. It's not what I want to say. It's too much of a lecture:

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1/2/09
Dear Brian,

I respect you as a person, but I am not able to respect your beliefs. I didn’t always feel this way. Like most Americans, I was brought up to believe that it was necessary and proper to “respect” all religious beliefs, whether or not we shared those beliefs. Not only am I no longer capable of respecting religious beliefs, I no longer feel it’s required to pretend you do when you don’t. (Unless you’re a politician, then you have no choice).

I don’t ordinarily broadcast my lack of religious belief. But I feel your email gave me permission to do so -- if not an outright invitation. I also have come to believe that perhaps the time has finally come for agnostics and atheists to freely express their beliefs – or more accurately their “lack of belief.”

I have been ambivalent about responding to your email. On the one hand, I was dying to respond from the moment I read it, and I read it more than once. On the other hand, I pretty much dismissed the idea because didn’t think I could respond without seeming to be disrespectful, and I really wanted to avoid that. Nor do I want to seem like I’m trying to look smarter than you or anyone. Besides, it’s unlikely I’ll change minds, so why bother? I’m probably talking mainly to those of our classmates who already think and feel as I do.

The reason I do not respect religious belief is simple: Religion has nothing to do with God or Truth. Religion was not created by God. Religion was invented by men, usually ignorant and uneducated men, initially as a way to explain the natural world, and later institutionalized as a way to exercise control over others.

The very notion that the God of this Massive Universe would expect humans on one tiny planet out of trillions to “worship” Him is beyond weird. Who do you think came up with that idea? (Hint: it wasn’t God). Ditto for the idea that the God of the Old Testament habitually dropped in to visit Moses and later sent his son down to die for us! Beyond being silly on its surface, it’s all made-up! Add to that the Transubstantiation, the Resurrection, the Immaculate Conception and any of dozens of “mysteries” the Church taught us we had to believe in order to be saved! It was all made up!

To put it less kindly, it’s all bullshit! The fact that those who preach to us are well-meaning and sincere, does not make it true. For example, most religions claim to know our destiny after death. They fact is: They don’t know (and neither do you). You and they just think they know.

Let me ask you a question, Brian: Do you believe in Islam? Do you believe that God spoke to Mohammed and dictated The Koran word-for-word? I would guess that you do not. That’s exactly how I feel about Christianity. My views toward all religion (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc.) are exactly the same as yours are toward Islam. Just because lots of people believe it doesn’t make it so!

I didn’t “drift away” from my faith. I deliberately left Catholicism 43 years ago. A key factor in my decision was this crazy, illogical, nonsensical notion that we “must believe” this or that in order to be saved.
Did you ever try to believe something that you kon’t believe? It’s impossible! The best you can do is pretend to believe. Would God really want us to pretend we believe (or worse yet, try to pretend) when we can’t bring ourselves around to believing, no matter how hard we try?
Why would God give us a brain to think with and question with, and then turn around and tell us we must believe this idea or that idea? No matter how preposterous the idea. And if we can’t or don’t believe, sorry dude, it’s off to Hell.
I can happily say I don’t believe in any of the Gods that religions have invented, from Yahweh to Zeus to Jesus. And there’s not a damn thing I can do about. Actually, I’m glad I don’t. I am very comfortable telling the simple truth: We don’t know! I don’t necessarily deny the existence of a Higher Power. It’s just my contention that, if a Higher Power exists, it’s unknown and unknowable, and surely unrelated to any of the thousands of religious beliefs that people hold.
It never ceases to amazes how religious people meekly accept as unvarnished truth the most ourtrageous claims without a scintilla of evidence to back them up. The Transubstantiation is a good example. In the real world, these same people would insist on evidence before believing that wine is magically changed into someone’s blood. (not symbolically, mind you, but “in substance”). Yet, in the strange world of religion, they accept it without question, often without realizing that it was only declared church dogma as a counter-move against the Reformation by the Council of Trent in the 16th century (one of whose officiating popes “lived with a 14-year-old boy,” but I digress)
On to the Bible, which is no more the “word of God” than the works of Shakespeare (which is not to say both were not “inspired”). Same for the Koran. The Bible is not without some nice ideas and values, but it also condones slavery, the stoning of adultresses, wanton killing and more. Not surprising if you accept that The Bible was written by men, and ignorant men at that.
The first book of the New Testament, Mark, was written two generations after Jesus’s death, based on the only thing it could be based on: oral tradition, i.e. stories and heresay. (Did you ever play the game “Telephone”?). Then, for 1500 years after that the Bible was copied by hand countess thousands of times. Changes, deletions, additions – some intentional, some not – were part of the process. The biblical scholar Bart Ehrman asserts in his book Misquoting Jesus that there are “more differences among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.”
Isn’t it absurd to think that the God of our vast Universe (16 billion light years from end to end) would choose the Bible and/or Koran as His sole means to getting the word out? If his objective was to fool us or confuse us, He couldn’t have done a better job!!!
Is it acceptable, I’ve wondered, to try to dissuade people away from a particular religious belief, Islam for example? What if an educational / public relations campaign was launched whose initial purpose was to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of Muslims, and whose ultimate purpose was to make them realize that their religion, like all religion, was INVENTED.
Maybe “the voice” Mohammed heard was not God, but more akin to the voices heard by the schizophrenic character in the movie “A Beautiful Mind.” Maybe you’re not whisked off to paradise after a suicide bombing, and maybe Mohammed did not ascend to heaven in a golden chariot. Maybe God had nothing whatever to do with writing the Koran! Maybe, maybe maybe!
At first blush, most practicing Christians would probably enthusiastically embrace the idea of undermining the Islamic belief-system. But then the reservations would creep in. If we begin casting doubt on “one of the world’s three great religions” (in the words of George Bush), then the next step might be to call into question the veracity of other religions, Christianity for example.
And as everyone knows, it has never been politically correct in our society to question the truthfulness of another person’s religion, especially Christianity, although this may be changing.
In many ways, I believe that Christianity has been a force for good in the world. The values of love and charity taught by Christ have infiltrated their way into secular society and that’s been a net positive or all of us. That’s not to say that “religion”has not caused its share of problems: Islamic terrorism, The Crusades, The Inquisition, the “end times” beliefs that make peace in the Middle East more difficult to achieve, and the harm to done to children by teaching creationism over evolution.

Brian, my intention has not been to offend or ridicule, but only to tell the truth as I see it. Just as you felt the urge to share your beliefs, your email awakened in me the urge to share mine.

I said earlier that the reason I do not respect religious beliefs is because I do not consider these beliefs to be TRUE. Some would call them “lies,” others “bullshit.” The kindest thing one a non-believer can call them is “nice stories” told by sincere and well-meaning people.
I do my best to love and respect religious believers. And as an American I respect one’s right to hold whatever religious beliefs one chooses. But only because I see no choice. People believe what they believe! Belief can’t be forced.

I wish you and all our classmates the best.

Love,
Jim