I have always been a very deep thinker even as a child.  As a teen, I would often spend time in my room reading or listening to music.  I would really think a lot about the conditions of the world and why God would allow such pain and misery to exist among us.  I know now that it's all our own doing and that He allows it so that we can learn from our mistakes.  One thing that I had pondered on a lot was the subject of death.  After my own dad had passed away I thought about it even more, and wondered what really happens when we die.  Where do we really go?  I've always heard that our spirit goes to heaven and we're with God as long as we are believers that are saved; otherwise we go to hell.  After carefully reading the Bible though, I became somewhat doubtful. 

If we go to heaven or hell when we die then that would be as if we had received our reward.  But the Bible says we will receive our reward AFTER the resurrection of all men; that we will be judged according to our works.  These two things contradict each other so how do we know which is correct?  This also makes me think that our works are more important than what we think they are.  I've read a lot of "life after death" books, and they seem to mention this as well.

So, my question for today is: What really happens when we die?  Where do we go?
And also: Are we saved by only believing, or do the works we do have something to do with our salvation as well?  Let me know what you all think.

Since I wasn't raised with any sort of religion while growing up, my mind wasn't influenced every week by the teachings of how others interpreted the scriptures and then told me what they meant.  Although I attended several different churches with friends throughout the years, my mind was still my own.  Rather than just accepting what everyone else was telling me, I bought my own Bible when I was ten years old and read and studied for myself.  I suppose this is one reason why I view things differently from what some of these Christian ministers taught. When I read the Bible things seemed so plain and simple, yet when I went to these churches and listened to what they taught, I found many things that seemed to contradict the scriptures.  For instance, I had no trouble believing that God and Jesus Christ were two separate individuals; one was the Father and one was the Son.  When Christ got baptized there were three individuals; Jesus Christ the Son being baptized, the voice of God the Father coming from heaven to introduce his Son; and the Holy Ghost who also witnessed the divinity of Christ.  When I was told by ministers that they were all one and the same individual who can be made manifest in three different forms, that made it sound more like some science fiction myth or something; especially after reading that we are children of God and that we were made in His image and likeness.  So this was one of my first unanswered questions: "What does God REALLY look like?"

After reading the Bible over and over again, what I had come to know and understand on my own seemed simple enough; it wasn't until I started listening to everyone else that I became confused and dissatisfied.  Is this what religion is all about?  Who knows what to believe anymore!  On the one hand, many Christians say we're saved by our belief only and that our works don't matter, while others say that we must follow Christ's example and try to live as he lived.  It would seem to me that the latter would be the most obvious choice since he came to teach us what we must do in order to obtain the kingdom of heaven.  The first just seems too easy like the broad and easy road that the majority will take.

Since my dad passed away I have had very deep doctrinal questions and have numerous questions that have remained unanswered.  Some Christians may balk at some of these and may wonder why I would even ask them.  I believe there's answer which is absolute truth for every question; the problem is finding it.  Sometimes answers are where you least expect them to be.

So, I'll be posting some of these questions on this blog site.  I would like everyone from every denomination to give me their views, opinions, and answers.  Feel free to use the Bible to back up your answers, but make sure there isn't another contradicting scripture elsewhere in the Bible.  This is the big challenge.  I don't believe that God would say one thing and then contradict Himself somewhere else because He's supposed to be an unchanging God, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow; and what He says to one, He says to all.  So convince me why I should join your denomination.  Remember to keep things civilized and respectful; there's no need for name-calling and foul language.  If you can do this it not only shows your capability to control yourself, but also your mastery of language skills and ability to learn from others without getting into a knock-down, drag-out, bashing contest.  I don't think this is what Christ taught because he said to love everyone and treat them as we would be treated.

We don't have to agree with one another, but it takes maturity to carry on conversations that may oppose our own viewpoints.  However, I'm confident that it CAN be done.

My first question:  "Why do people believe that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are one individual or entity that can be manifested in three different forms?"  It just doesn't make sense to me.  When answering, please state your denomination and whether or not I can use your answer anonymously in a study I'm compiling by answering yes or no.