Recently a friend of mine suggested that I look up this group that has been challenging people to post YouTube videos of themselves denying the Holy Spirit just for a free DVD. As I logged onto the website and watched the videos, the scores and scores of people who renounce their belief in Jesus and denying the Holy Spirit... I have nothing to say because my heart is already filled with pain and sadness

      People would rather choose a place for the sake of a DVD? I know, this is only because they do not subscribe to the fact that there is no hell, no God, no Jesus Christ, no Holy Spirit. Is it because life has dealt them with a hard blow? Is is because someone from a religious background has hurt them in some form (I acknowledge the molests done by clergymen and others from churches etc)? I read this comment that goes like this, "...I used to be a hard-core Christian fanatic until I did extensive research and found that there was no such person called God. I have liberated my mind...", yet another comment goes like, "Christians are not saved, they are slaved." I could go on and read more and watch more... but it became heart-wrenching at one point that I couldn't go on.

      I am not a hard-core Christian fanatic. I do not subscribe to church activities and baptisms, cell groups or youth rallies like it is a drug or something. I do not go to prayer group after prayer group drinking in some aphrodiasic that satiates my senses until I roll my eyes in religious-drug-induced-high. I do not.

      But instead I am down on my knees for the fact with tears rolling down my cheeks over the sheer fact that with no doubt that someone by the name of Jesus was born into this world with only one mission - to die for the world - to liberate our souls from going to another place where we would suffer. He came with no condition. He died for everyone who was created by God. Even those who started this whole Blasphemy Challenge thingy. Someone mentioned in one of the videos that, "the only reason why we stay on with the Christian faith, is because we fear the other option which is the burn in hell."

      That's not true.

      I am here to testify that having been an atheist before converting to become a follower of Jesus...that the reason why I became a disciple was not because I wanted to escape the fires of hell. I believe solely because God has a relationship with me. He loves me and continually blesses me with His care and protection. Christians who believe out of fear of judgement should perhaps look at the nature of God which is to love. If I converted out of fear, does it make God different from Hitler? God is not a tyrant, but He IS love. God does not look at what I have done in the past, but would rather just choose to purge me of my sin by letting His son die in my place.

      Atheists claim that there is ample evidence that God doesn't exist. Enthusiasts point in glee at the amount of people who post those videos on YouTube denying God and say, "See, looks like Christianity aint' that hot after all", what I can say is that just because a big amount of people say they don't believe in God you can automatically conclude that God is a fake. There is TONS of evidence and I'm not talking about blind faith or miracles...there is physical evidence from history that Jesus existed. His enemies attested of who He claimed to be, and even plotted to silence Him through crucifixion.

      My faith in God is not a blind faith. If you believe that Christians are people who have their head in the clouds and just accept what their pastors feed them or just gullp down bible scriptures like a gullible baby would when the mother feeds it milk...you've got us Christians wrong. Because God has revealed Himself to us in His own personal way in our individual lives, the change that comes into our lives, the change that happens in others, the Bible, the fact that Jesus did not come and lie His way into the hearts of His disciples...the very fact that He died for the very truth He proclaimed...The very fact He died even for those who didn't believe Him...these are FACTS. They are not fiction or fantasy.

      The onus or burden in on you guys who set up Blasphemy Challenge... you might think you're liberating people from religion and freeing their minds... then I would suggest that you come up with better proof of a non-existent God. Using a DVD as a commercial incentive to propel your purposes is just another cheap tactic that speaks of your inability to do any better than that. I for one, as a former-atheist, tried my best to deny God's existence, I searched for proof but found that everything faded in comparison to the facts that attested that Jesus is real and hence God is not a hoax.

      A person said that, "Religion has hindered social development and betterment of society..." I say that I agree. Religion does do that - its rituals, dogma, philosophies etc - it does. But having a relationship with God, the realisation that there is a higher purpose to every action we do in this world, the call to care for the uncared and love the unloved, it is the catalyst for many movements that we see now in our world. The wave of the Holy Spirit is evident in every corner of the world. Yes, religion halts progress, but it does not hinder God to work His will and purpose on earth. One thing atheists cannot deny, and it is that very fact that belief in God and His power has sparked changes in societies, countries and policies around the globe. The amount of changed lives that have been touched by God's power is living proof that God exists.

      The very fact that I have a conscience. The sense of dignity, the desire for a higher goal or purpose in life, the craving for justice... it speaks of God's nature in us - the creation. If we were just "accidents" of nature, freak creations out of randomness... why and how should we live life now? Would we need law and order to govern ourselves and await for the moment we die and leave everything behind and fade into nothingness? Do you go anywhere after you die? If you don't, what is the purpose of working so hard now? If you were just a small dot of probability in this universe existing randomly, how was love and affection instilled into you? By what? By WHO?

      But I admit... as Christians, we are responsible for some of the responses posted for the Blasphemy Challenge. The end-time Church faces opposition for good reason - we don't live for Jesus. We live for religiousity, indulgence, self-proclaimed matyrs, we live for judgement, hypocrisy...we live for anything but we don't live for God. We would rather sit in our pews and judge the worship leader for choosing a song written by a non-Christian, we would rather practice our "Christianese" with one another and forget we neglect those who aren't in our religious clique who need God. We would rather be contented waiting to go to heaven than to care for the uncared.

      We forget. We forget the reason why Jesus came in the first place. He came to put a stop to pharisees and sadducees. He came to erase lingo out of our religious lives. He came to remind us that its time to look up at God and not at each other. We have forgotten indeed. And it is for this very reason some people have turned bitter against the gospel because the very people who carry their bibles around are the worst testimonies for God. Christians curse better than non-Christians at times, we smoke, we break the rules, we are the ones who act all "holier than thou" at youth events. We glorify in our christian achievements and forget that the glory doesn't belong to us in the first place.

      We forget indeed.

      So to end this long post. Blasphemy Challenge... I don't challenge you anything. Instead I just want to say one thing in response to this whole matter...

      Jesus died for you too. And no matter how many times you deny the Holy Spirit, it doesn't change that fact. He died for you. He never regretted it. And He will never be able to be challenged into saying that He did not want to die for you.

      Because Jesus loves you.

      [anyone who wants to ask me things about Jesus or respond to this post, email me at babylonixa0206@yahoo.com with the heading "Blasphemy Challenge"]