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Oh please, if you get saved, please let me know, so that I may join in with the jubilation in Heaven. I mean this in the nicest way, and hope for you to truely know the salvation of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Despite the title of this thread, June is absolutely sincere in what she is about to ask in this OP.
This forum has been engaged in an ongoing argumentative debate as regards Universalism vs. Non-Universalist beliefs for a long time now. To say that it becomes ugly at times would be a ridiculous understatement. June reads/moderates all these threads, so it's not as though she isn't familiar with what has been an ongoing debate (on a good day) and outright denominational warfare on another...
So June has a question, given something that happened this past week:
June happened to have dinner with a friend of hers this past week. He's a colleague, and a very dear friend. He also happens to be an ordained minister, but up here in Massachusetts ("Heathen Land" that it is) very few people at work are aware of that fact. June and her friend talked as we ate. (June did more crying than eating, but her friend was accepting of that.) We talked about a lot of things: Work, life, and religion.
Upon leaving the restaurant at the end of the evening, much to June's shock and dismay, her friend asked her: "Can I pray for you?" -To which June (being her adorable "Just June" self) replied that would be fine, and expressed her gratitude that her friend would ask. However, he proceeded to convey to June that he in fact was asking if he could pray for her then and there. --As in: right there, in the parking lot. Much to June's utter shock and dismay, she said "okay." --And so he did. Very moving.
Now June needs to ask, to know: Given the fact that this friend is fully aware of the fact that June is an atheist, (but none the less extended the offer he did due to his beliefs) and given the fact that June let him pray for her in that parking lot this past week, if --as a result of that-- June somehow ended up becoming a Universalist, or a Catholic, or June became a Baptist, or June became a Protestant, or June ended up becoming a Methodist, or June ended up becoming any type of a Christian, (but for the purposes of this thread, let's just say by some miracle June came to believe, and had to decide whether she was a Universalist or not) then....
WOULD IT MATTER!?
Would it matter to all of you if somehow an atheist could come to believe, and would the denomination be the most central, focused thing in your minds? Would it be better for June to remain an atheist, than to somehow miraculously come to believe, and end up a Universalist? Or end up becoming a non-Universalist? How much would that be an issue for all of you?
June sincerely, respectfully would like to know your thoughts....
Take gentle care,
"Not Converted Yet June"
June! I do believe he (Your Friend) was moved to pray for you because of the conversations you both had at dinner that brought tears to your eyes!
You both touched on some very interesting point's in eachothers lifes and perhaps what he shared with you may well have been God working
through him to touch you in a very awesome way!
Prayer is a very powerful tool and I do believe Gods work with you has only begun!
You'll come to that place where you'll feel it's where your heart is leading you and you'll know when you get there! because it'll feel just right for you!
You both touched on some very interesting point's in each others lifes and perhaps what he shared with you may well have been God working through him.
June does not doubt what is written ^ above. June may be an atheist, but she loves her friend. She knows that he is an ordained minister. He knows that she is a nonbeliever.
What is interesting to note here is that no one has yet to ask what his denomination is...
-What if he is a Universalist? -What if he is not?
I go to a Baptist church...not because it's baptist...but because at this church they teach God's word...(If our current pastor ever left, I'd have to search again...and pray that God sits my fanny where it should be--and I may not even have to leave my church...but the Holy Spirit would direct me.)...I do believe that I grow by hearing God's word...by studying God's word...and trying to live God's word.
This is the best answer. I also go to a Baptist Church because they teach the truth, from the Bible. I would tell June to listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him direct her on what to believe and where to worship.
June does not doubt what is written ^ above. June may be an atheist, but she loves her friend. She knows that he is an ordained minister. He knows that she is a nonbeliever.
What is interesting to note here is that no one has yet to ask what his denomination is...
-What if he is a Universalist? -What if he is not?
More importantly, the question is:
Does it matter???
(And if so, why?) That's June's question.
Hi June,
Just wanted to say your OP was really touching.
As to your question does it matter? In the short term, yes, because us humans like to argue about such things.
In the long term, no, because either:
1. God exists and has everything under control, including what denomination you pick right now - so it doesn't really matter because God will work it out
OR
2. We believers are delusional and God doesn't really exist - so again it doesn't really matter.
--
But what does matter, if option 1 is true, is that God may be leading you down a new path. The road may get bumpy, but God has everything under control! For me option 1 brings a lot more sense of purpose that option 2.
This is the best answer. I also go to a Baptist Church because they teach the truth, from the Bible. I would tell June to listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him direct her on what to believe and where to worship.
So so true ILNC...The Holy Spirit is so great.
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very few people at work are aware of that fact. June and her friend talked as we ate. (June did more crying than eating, but her friend was accepting of that.) We talked about a lot of things: Work, life, and religion.
--And so he did. Very moving. 
