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Email From: Nathalie Winberg –Sweden

“...Would probably not call a whole country antichrist or satanic...

...would probably also realize that you can like a rock and roll lifestyle and still be deeply into your religion..

...would also realize that religion has nothing to do with clothes or haircuts or colour...

...Wouldn't open his or her mouth and say that something satanic has anything to do with the devil, if they knew anythin about it at all...

...would also not force people to join the church or believe what they believe...

...and he or she wouldn't promote the hatred of an entire nation that is better in so many ways than the united states or hipocracy could ever be.

People like yourself is what makes people turn away from God, Joe. I would never want to be in a congregation with a minister that was so narrow minded and full of hate.

Nathalie Winberg
Sweden ”

FTGF RESPONSE

Nathalie,

You may find this hard to believe, but I agree with you. As you can imagine, I need to qualify this statement, but first, please know that even though I don't know you personally - I care for you. I am also very concerned that you have been offended by what you have read (Swede Jeans Promote Satanism Among Youth). I truly respect your right to believe in any religion, lifestyle, etc that you choose. If I met you on the street and didn't agree with your clothes, language, etc - I'd still talk to you and be kind to you... In fact, I'd even have lunch with you. The bottom line is that you are a human being and so am I. If you were open to hearing about my faith - I would definitely share in detail, if you were not, I'd respect that.

I write the following in truth and love, without any malice.

To begin, our article does not state that everyone in Sweden is 'anti-christ'.

To a degree, sure someone can enjoy the rock and roll lifestyle and be deeply into a religion, however, if that lifestyle involves drugs, sex outside of marriage, living a front that implies demonic inspiration (done just for the look or stage), etc. well now it violates Christian conduct and would be unacceptable to God. Now if this r&r lifestyle was simply a desired look (hairstyle, clothes [without demonic symbols, etc] shoes, color of hair, nails etc etc) and the person enjoys Christian rock/rap/country, etc and lives a moral Christian life based on the scriptures, well then hey - go for it!

As mentioned above, I agree clothes and hair color don't have anything to do with religion, so long as it doesn't violate Christian morality as mentioned above. Personally, some radical hair colors look pretty cool to me!

I'm not sure exactly what is meant by the point of saying something satanic has something to with the devil...? But if this helps, anything that contradicts God is essentially 'anti-christ' (1 John ) and thus originates from Satan. Now I know that may sound very narrow and perhaps even stupid... But I truly believe that there are two supernatural "forces", if you will, that exist spiritually - one being of God and the other of Satan.

I totally agree that no one should 'force' anyone to join a church or to believe what they believe!!! That basically describes what the Catholics did through their crusades. Unless I missed it, the article does NOT attempt to "force" anyone to do anything of the sort.

No one is trying to promote hatred. In fact, when I hear or share of the extreme persecutions against Christians in countries such as China, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, etc. I encourage people to pray not only for the Christians, but also for the persecutors - that they would know the love of God and be saved.

Now you mentioned something about the U.S. and hypocrisy - not sure what you meant, but I'll say this - the U.S. in my opinion is in extreme danger of judgment and "legally" is practicing extreme hypocrisy!!! The blood of millions and millions of murdered unborn babies is crying out to God and the lack of Christian morality in our society is at the edge. The U.S. is leading the way of anti-Christian morals. Now that's not to say that everyone in the U.S. is anti-Christ, yet the majority are. In fact, I personally have relatives that contribute to the behavior I just stated - I still love them and care for them and pray for them. But the reality is that the majority of Americans are not living true biblical Christian lives.

I can imagine how you feel, especially if you are not a Christian, because before I became a Christian the kind of people that turned me off to Christianity were simply the kind that were happy all the time and praying for everyone and so on and so on! In fact, I remember the nicest group of ladies I had ever met, were my coworkers, years ago - they were constantly talking about Jesus and if they made a mistake or dropped something while working they'd make remarks like Oh Sweet Jesus, Lord help me etc etc!! It used to make me sick and angry! Yet they were the nicest ladies I'd ever met. I always felt as if they thought they were better than me or that they looked down on me - yet they would always put up with my profanity and my "hang-over attitudes" and if I was still wired on coke or drunk when I showed up for work they would lovingly give me my space. Oh, and believe me, they would warn me from time to time to change my ways - they'd even encourage me to go to a church. When they were firm they were firm but they balanced it with genuine concern and love. I later realized that I felt so attacked and personally rejected because of the fact that they disagreed with my sinful life not me personally as a human being!

Now I don't know you personally at all, I don't even know if you are Christian, were a Christian, or couldn't care less about becoming a Christian. But I'll say this - you are human being, therefore I care for you.

Please know that Pastor Joe Schimmel writes from a heart that sincerely cares and is not filled with hatred, for some it may "appear" that way, but trust me, I know the man and his family - I often spend time with him, as we work together and I assure you, he is a man with a heart of love. His style may not be for everyone, I'll give you that! After all some of the nicest ladies I knew were over the top for me!

Nathalie, if there is ever anything further you'd like to discuss - I'd be more than glad to correspond with you! In fact, if you see anything offered on our ecommerce store that you think you may be interested in, please let me know and I'll arrange for there to be no charge for anything you desire to have - all I'll need is a mailing address.

Thank you for reading this through and I look forward to hearing from you again.

Steve Aguilar

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