But:

We each walk our own path. That's why none of us can sit as judge on somebody else.

But we all suffer pain and grief in life, though some hide it. That's why those who have been scarred can understand something of what you suffer. And help you see the way forward more clearly - they may have walked a similar path.

What's all this about flesh and the spirit?

Our flesh is our body plus our soul (mind, emotions and will). Our spirit is our eternal being.

The material world around us feeds - and hurts - the flesh. In reacting to the hurts in our flesh, we don't escape it.

Quite the reverse: we subject our spirit to our flesh - making matters worse. The solution does not lie in the flesh.

Don't believe in hell or eternity?

Are you certain? There are no return tickets! Are you going to risk eternity on what you think you know?

What you do know is how intense and painful this present life can be. Spiritual life can be even more intense. Hell is the absence of love in that intensity.

Like the idea of being reincarnated?

According to Hinduism, suicides are destroyers of life. So, they will be reincarnated as a low form of life - e.g. a cockroach - to spend millenia working their way back up to ....a human being

That's why reincarnation is portrayed as a wheel, with people desperate to get off.

By contrast, the Bible says "it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement".

Am I beyond help?

You've discovered the limits of yourself - your flesh. So you need to go beyond that, not surrender to it for all eternity. You may have come to the end of yourself but there is hope if you look beyond what you can see now.

There is a spiritual being who has suffered more than you have and cries out for you. He can take you into His family and give you His strength.

Got to get out of this place?

Though your pain seems huge, you are not your pain. As your spirit is eternal, you do not escape its agony by killing your physical self.

To kill the root of the pain, you must go beyond attacking your physical body. It is not your body that needs to die.

The spiritual world is more intense, more 'real', than our material world. If you end your life, the moment of control you gain is followed by an eternity over which you have less control and know less about than your present life.

It is not the product of your cosy imaginings. For some who die, the Psalms say:

Yet, there is hope, There is a better and more radical way of taking action against your pain.

But: my need is NOW!

Good. Let's strip away what doesn't matter, forget what you've been taught, and focus on the essential.

But: God is dead.

Through the pain and anger, it may be difficult to believe in somebody who is concerned for you and bigger than all your problems and thoughts.

Yet, like a loving parent with a hurting child, God is waiting there for you.

And if you really don't want to believe in God? "The fool in his heart says there is no God"   Psalm 14, first verse

But: I'm just a speck of dust!

Just a speck of dust, upon a speck of dust, going round a bigger speck of dust, amidst billions of other stars... So insignificant!

Yet, science also tells us that life is amazingly complex. The simplest cell is enormously more complex than the most sophisticated factory. The fly on the window pane would take more information to reproduce than the entire inanimate (lifeless) universe, with all its galaxies of stars.

The most complex known thing in the universe? The human brain. So, don't waste it!'

What ancient wisdom?

The Bible is the most ancient collection of wisdom and history in the world. So, isn't it just a load of old myths?

No. Academics used to claim it was inaccurate about history. But, as we find out more about the ancient world, the accuracy of the Bible is confirmed.

Its prophecies about the future have also proved accurate. Its rules on food and sanitation are healthy, in ways that have only recently been discovered

So, maybe the Bible is also accurate about life and death?

But: Jesus is a myth

There are more, far more, documents about Jesus from within 100 years of his life than about the Roman emperors of the day.

Of course, the world can easily accept the idea of back-stabbing politicians....

But: Jesus was just a good person, not "God"

Sort of an early version of Mother Theresa?

But Mother Theresa did not fulfill ancient prophecy, did not say things like "Before Moses was, I am", did not claim that people could only come to God through her. And her body lies in Calcutta. Jesus's body vanished.

So, Jesus was either mad, bad, or who He said he was: God.

If he was mad or bad, how come He is much the most influential and famous person in history, more than all the generals, politicians, professors or rock stars? Even though he never wrote a book or held office.

Something going on??

But: I'm OK with God. There are many ways to God

Maybe you've tried a few ways to God.

But, if you treat God like a supermarket He isn't going to be able to help you. He isn't just an OK, anything goes, sort of God. He is the creator of the universe and made us for relationship with Him.

He provided a way for us to know his love. We can decide whether to accept His way or not. But, we didn't make Him, He made us. So, we can't provide or make up our own way.

That would be to reduce God to our size: convenient but useless. God's extreme river is no paddling pool.

But: I don't get the deal here

If you accept that you can't help yourself, then God can and will, if you ask Him to.

When you accept Jesus as your master, He takes your weakness, shame and guilt - no matter how great - and gives you His perfection instead. That way, He can pour His mercy and love into you.

The deal is love.

But: I can't change!

If you want to change, that's enough. God can do the rest - if you let Him.

It may take time; the roots of your problems may go deep, perhaps to your ancestors. But God's river can wash it all away.

But: I don't want to change!

Maybe you are a slave to some pattern or addiction. This makes you quite free from God's loving restraint.

But what benefit do you really get from this? Do you have real peace?

By contrast, if you accept Jesus, God can free you from that slavery and you become His slave instead! The difference is that He gives you real freedom and peace, both now and for ever.

But: Christians? They just pretend to be so nice!

The question is commitment, not following a set of rules or pretending to be nice.

The question is commitment: Real commitment to Jesus occurs at the deepest level - the level of our spirit.

It's no walk in the park because our flesh (our body, mind, emotions) may continue to scream in pain and rebel. The flesh both loves the world and is hurt by it.

Can we remain passionate about Jesus, not ourselves or the world? We may often fail, but, as we each deepen our relationship with God, the world begins to lose its strangle-hold on us. And we begin to know real abundance.

Not convinced yet?

See our links page for useful sites for further debate and information.

Of course, its up to you. But please consider carefully; this isn't the same as choosing a soda. There are big consequences hanging on your choice.

"If we have faith in Jesus, God's Son, we have believed what God has said. But if we don't believe what God has said about His Son, it is the same as calling God a liar.
God has also said that He gave us eternal life and that this comes to us from His Son. So, if we have Jesus, God's Son, we have this life. If we don't have the Son, we don't have this life."
1st letter of John, the Evangelist