Good Morning, Midgie.

If you do not object, I will respond to your post contextually rather than linearly.

  Most don't seek the Lord as they ought until they run into trouble and
need a miracle.  I knew about God and I believed in God but I never sought Him
with all my heart until I was in trouble and no man alive could help me.


That is precisely the point. You were emotionally vested from the beginning. Your arrival at your destination re: "faith" was not reached by a rigorous independent inquiry. 

  I needed a miracle and turned to God with all my heart.....and was
blessed beyond anything my mind could have ever conjured up! That was almost 30
years ago and it's been one blessing after another since that time!


I am truly happy for you. As with the gentleman with whom I work, I do not care about which methodology brings about an expedient and satisfactory resolution to an unpleasant situation.  I have no interest in denouncing either experience on a personal level.

MN, it is not religion that transforms a man, it is Jesus Christ Almighty
Himself Who transforms us in an instant in His Love for us.  Jesus Christ is
REAL and He means what He says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

I respectfully disagree. Men and women are removed from negative circumstance via a wide range of methodologies, religious and secular, on a daily basis.

As the Catholic Church teaches, the primary purpose of the Church in this world
is to lead us to Jesus.  Jesus IS alive and well.  He is a man, but a man like
none other.  He is Divine.  When He comes and manifests Himself to us, He comes
in a dimension not of this world.  He comes in a spiritual dimension.  The
Person of Jesus Christ Almighty is the personification of LOVE.   All it takes
is one moment in time to experience His Love and we're forever changed.


This proposes several interesting questions. If you'll permit, I will compare and contrast your stated experience with the individual with whom I work, as he is a Protestant. Not for the purpose of insult, but for analysis.

1. Initial observation is that circumstance(s) led both parties to Jesus. Church was not a factor until information was sought.
2. Most live in a society where some concept of God is continually present, and a "Church" is representative of, if not the actual locale of Jesus/God, certainly the location of those who can answer questions.
3. Are you familiar with Rambo's Integrative Conversion model? If you have sufficient interest, please read about it. If not, don't. It is not a coincidence that crisis precedes conversion as a general rule.
4. You, and this individual with whom I work (can I PLEASE just call him Joe?! I'm really getting tired of typing "individual with whom I work!" LOL) have experienced the same love, personal empowerment, transformation, etc. And yet, both appear to offer exclusive "correct" access to Jesus.

Also to reiterate, my assertion is that believers believe for a variety of reasons. The most important is the utility, not the scholarship. Is that something upon which we can agree?

"Stupidity is the basic building block of the universe."

Zappa