Friends In High Places

By Robert N. Gross, Ph.D.

There are a lot of people today who seek more meaning for their lives. The answer is obvious when a person learns to trust God by accepting Jesus Christ as personal savior and redeemer. In Friends In High Places, Worth Nobles realizes his life is empty and superficial. He has a great job, expensive cars, and all the material possessions he wants. But he feels there is something missing. He serendipitously finds a spiritual counselor, Dr. Emanuel, and arranges to go see him. During the course of his visits Worth asks all of the questions he has regarding religion, going to church and what Jesus Christ did for mankind that no other person, guru or religious leader has done. This book is designed for the person who has questions about Christianity and the role of Jesus Christ. Worth learns that every human has an important decision to make about where his or her spirit goes after death. This book will provide information which will help the reader make the right decision.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Omni PublishXpress
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781930575998

Book preview

Friends In High Places

Friends in High Places

Are You Looking For More Out Of Life?

It’s Easy When You Ask The Right Questions.

Robert N. Gross, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2009, Robert N. Gross, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-930575-99-8

DEDICATION

To Erin, the most wonderful daughter in the entire world.

(If you don’t believe it, just ask her!)

Preface

I am probably the last person who should be writing a book; however, the Holy Spirit gave me the idea for this book in 1994. I wrote a draft on my old MAC computer but switched to a PC in 2000. I have not been able to find any of the disks from the MAC so I have had to start over from scratch. This is quite fitting, because that is what this little book is about—starting from scratch.

The Bible says for us to confess our sins one to another, so I am doing that right here, right now.   I am confessing to you that I procrastinated on writing this book.  I could provide a litany of clever and plausible excuses, but the bottom line is that I just let God down.

As you can see, I have repented!  I believe God  has forgiven me, and the Holy Spirit has helped me write what you are about to read.  A lovely friend of mine, Nancy Apple, a graphics artist, led me to the Lord. (She also set the type and laid out the graphic design for this book). I had attended a denominational church all of my life but it wasn’t until 1982, after talking with Nancy, that I finally gave my life to the Lord and began living for him.

One of the things the Lord called me to do, and gifted me for, was witnessing to people about what Jesus Christ has done for me. This book is a result of my sessions with those people.

The people I spoke with had questions—ironically, most of them had the same questions. My purpose is to highlight the most common questions of atheists, people who are burned out on religion, or people who simply have not heard the truth of the Word of God.

i

The primary thing you need to know is all that matters is what the Bible has to say about something. For example, if you and I had an argument about a baseball statistic, we could argue all day. But what we need is an authority which we can both agree to be the benchmark for the answer.

The Bible, the living Word of God, is this benchmark when it comes to life. People always say things like, The Bible was written by men. This is true.  But do you know what I think? I think if there is a God, and He can create the universe, then He can, by God, find a way to get his word to us even if a human wrote it.

The other comment I always heard was that the Bible is subject to interpretation. There may be several ways to interpret the Bible, but  there is only one right way.  God isn’t schizophrenic.  He’s not going to give one interpretation to one group and different interpretation to another; it’s ludicrous to entertain that idea as a plausible one.

The saving factor is the Holy Spirit. The Bible says the Holy Spirit is the teacher of the church. The Holy Spirit  tells us what the Bible means through revelation knowledge. Rhema  in the Greek language.  Ergo, if one isn’t filled with the Holy Spirit or baptized with the Holy Spirit, that person doesn’t have this interpreter to help in his or her understanding of the Bible (more about that later).

I know what you are thinking:  What about the Koran? What about the writings of Buddha? What about the Book of Mormon? What about the other sacred texts? The answer is simple.  There is only one God and only one source for His Word.  Yes, there are parts of the original Bible that have been left out for one reason or another—so what?  I don’t think that means the Bible is any less God’s word or any less valuable for my life.

ii

"I have found that many people who do not serve God have a lot of questions. I have taken the questions I have been asked most and have provided answers from the Bible in this book. The questions are asked by the central character, Worth.  He represents a person who does not know God through Jesus Christ.  The questions he asks are universal questions that we have all asked at one time or another.

The Bible says of itself, "The word of God is foolishness to those who do not believe." (I Corinthians 1:18) The Bible, and its answers, must be accepted by faith. The overall story of the plan of God for mankind is told in this book as the backdrop for answering the questions everyone has.  If one can grasp God’s overall plan, then he or she can take the next step in faith toward having fellowship and relationship with God.

You are reading this book, I might surmise, because you have felt irritated when some Christian witnessed to you, or you simply have a dislike for Christians.  You probably have questions in your mind about the whole Christianity thing and you are hoping this book might provide some insight into why you have been so skeptical all of these years.

I told a friend of mine about this book when I was  finishing it up,  and he said that no non-Christian would read it because that type of person would not accept my premise as a basis for  the answers I offer. This, indeed, makes sense.

However, as I have discussed, the issues raised in this little book I have heard from non-Christians.  These questions are those  I will attempt to answer. I feel like I’m entitled to do this  because I had the same questions before I came to Christ.

iii

With that said, if I say so myself, the story is interesting and worthy of being repeated. If you hate Christians, this book will help you understand why they do the things they do.

With this preamble out of the way I am going to tell you my story.  Many of you are not going to believe it.  I understand that.  I don’t blame you; sometimes I wonder if it really happened myself.

iv

Chapter One

Crying at the Pancake Pantry

*   *   *

Friday, November 26, Nashville, Tennessee

It’s funny how one’s  mind can focus so intently on a particular event that it becomes pervasive in his consciousnesses. That’s why I remember exactly how the story I have to tell you began. I even remember the exact time, it was 6:43 in the morning. It was the Friday after Thanksgiving.

I know the time because there was a huge digital clock on the table next to the bed where I had slept. The large, tubular, red numerals were flickering against a black background,  and I  noticed the mesmerizing blinking dots between the 6 and the 4—watching them hurt my head.

I had gone to my parents’ house on Thanksgiving Day.  My sister was there with her perfect family—meaning her husband, son and daughter.  Everyone was dressed in the appropriate Thanksgiving Day-themed sweater, earrings, or socks. I slipped out the back door without being missed, while everyone was engrossed in a football game that was obviously significant to the betterment of mankind.

It was difficult to find a bar open on Thanksgiving Day, but I found one downtown.  I don’t remember the name, but it was on Demonbreun, down the street from those grotesque. naked  nymphs frolicking  at the entrance of  the Music Row roundabout.

With every blink of that clock there was a corresponding pound in my head!  Overhead, I watched a spider working diligently  in the corner of the ceiling. For a few moments, I didn’t know where I was. I saw my favorite Zanella slacks in a pile on the polished hardwood floor.

I noticed her Manolo Blahnick shoes, stockings, and blouse were spaced  evenly across the floor. I could see the trail all the way into the living room.   I visually located my shirt and socks about 2 feet from the bedroom door.  Just like Hansel and Gretel had left a trail of bread crumbs, I had left a trail of clothing so I could find my way back—but back to where?

My head felt like it was the size of the Bart Simpson balloon I had seen in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade the previous morning.  I managed to swing my legs over the side of the bed, onto the floor, without moving the mattress. Her  tan, muscular  arm lay motionless  across