Friend-

You may not see it now, but one day you'll certainly understand. Through my experience in life, I've spent a lot of time on both sides of the spectrum. Once upon a time, I was in the same exact place you were. God was the last thing on my mind, and I certainly didn't think that God had any place in my life because life was ok. I was you, and I lived an average life taking each day at a time just trying to survive in this crazy world. I lived to grasp as much as I could from the time I was given. God was certainly not the answer to anything, regardless of if I was in need, or if I was content. But then I saw how much others around me were moved by this divine being. I just didn't see it, feel it, or understand it what they were being moved by. They were near insane in my eyes.

Friend, so many times we think we have life all decoded and every single thing figured out. But I'll admit that sometimes we don't, and I didn't. I couldn't see what they saw because although I saw with my eyes, I didn't see with my heart. The things I heard at church or from my Christ-following friends went through my ears and never reached my heart. I was completely blind to it, and I've now come to the realization how truly dangerous that was. I've been woken up.

Friend, I don't invite you to my campus ministry, or to check out my church with me on a weekly basis just for my own benefit. I don't do it just to force my "bigoted opinions" on you. Honestly, what can I personally gain from you coming to church or finding Christ? If we're completely honest if I had it my way I would say absolutely nothing. Why? Because the society that we live in, being a Christian is the shameful thing to admit. Nobody takes me seriously! In their eyes, I'm this self-righteous prude who is too weak to face the reality of life, so instead of facing life, I created a God in my head to try to make things easier for me, then used this God to justify my judgment on other. But they just can't see it, like how I couldn't see it. I think that was the cleverest of the devil's schemes. I knew from the beginning that being a follower of Jesus wasn't going to be the popular or easy thing to choose. But in the bible (in Mark 13:13), Jesus said,

" Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Jesus also said,

“If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." -Matthew 16:24-26

So I guess I knew what I got myself into when I choose to follow Christ. But why should I care about man's opinion? Man's opinion has absolutely no power or significance unless I give it the power and significance to effect me. But the opinion of the creator of the world has ultimate significance whether we like it or we don't. C.S. Lewis put it in best words,

“When you argue against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.”

Friend, if you take anything from this, I want you to take out the fact that we're all sinners. The God of the universe has set standards for us to reach, and every single one of us has failed to meet it. The truth is that all of us are imperfect and failed to meet the standard of perfection.We've all broken God's law. With that being said, the punishment for breaking God's law is death in hell, whether you agree with that of not. But,

" For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. " -John 3:16

God loved us so much, that our perfect God who knew no sin he came down to earth in human form, and suffered all the daily pains that we as humans do. Then he died the shameful death on the cross that we deserved so that we could escape eternity in hell. After dying that shameful death, he conquered death and resurrected. He did this all so we could escape eternity separated from the producer of every single good thing in this world. God didn't need us, he was and is self-sufficient, but he did this because he loves us so much. This wonderful gift of eternal life is free with the genuine belief in Jesus Christ. It breaks my heart that I'm going across the world to preach this to strangers who have never heard this, but I've never told this to you, one of my dearest friends.

Friend, we were creatures designed for worship, and all of us will ultimately worship something. Some of us will worship success, social status, money, power, drugs, all of the creation. But then others will choose to worship the creator of all. All of those things are worthless and will pass away one day. Those things you worship, can you truly and genuinely say that those things make you completely content and happy. Or are you lying to yourself? Does some part of you feel empty? Does some part of you wish for something better in life? Because deep down, I know I did, all though I spent numerous days convincing myself that I didn't.

"What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"- Matthew 16:26a

Putting things into perspective, the universe is so large and we are such a tiny piece of it. The world doesn't need us. Truthfully any single one of us can disappear in a matter of minutes. And the harsh reality of it is that all of us, every single one one of us will exist forever, it's just a matter of where we will spend eternity. If you died tomorrow, what will all that you accumulated in life be worth? If you died tomorrow what significance will your social status, or your money, or anything mean? You say let's make the best of the moments now, but what if these moments now were taken from you in a blink of and eye, what then? This world is so broken, and everything in this world is broken. If you can't look around and recognize that, then you're nothing but a prisoner that doesn't realize they're in jail and deserve something better.

So, Friend, whether you believe this or not, it is the truth that everyone will realize one day, and hopefully, you do realize before it's too late. I'm not saying this to be harsh and unloving, but I've realized the only loving thing I can do is to tell you the truth. It would be unloving and selfish of me if I didn't. I've realized that nothing that I can say can honestly change your belief, or even have an effect on you. I can spend my life pushing you towards Christ, preaching at you, and throwing bible verses at you. But honestly, none of that matters unless God moves in your heart and makes you see. So I'll do what I can and pray, and I have been praying for you every night. I don't do this for my own benefit or any other reason you may believe, but I do this because I love you and it breaks my heart that you can't see this. But maybe just maybe, if I steadfastly pray you'll one day you can see and that day it will all be clear.