Free High Stakes by Erin McCarthy

also be flexible and tolerant toward those with other beliefs.
    The plain and simple fact is that all religions have some truth, but none have all the truth. To build your religious knowledge and beliefs by picking out the truths of any or all of mankind’s religions is the ultimate of all religions. Although it doesn’t necessarily have a name or a church, temple or particular place of worship, this knowledge and truth resides inside of you every day and brings solace to your life and soul. It also allows you the freedom to acknowledge all the good in religion and do away with the bad.
    You can pray or meditate anywhere and feel comfortable, whether it be in a church, synagogue, mosque, temple or what ever. You can find your haven of worship in a grove of trees, a garden, a mountain, a hill, on or by the ocean, in the desert or even in your own home or abode. You can live your life of tolerance and religious freedom in the most useful of ways, doing good works and treating others as you would like to be treated; and all the while knowing that what ever beliefs you may have are right for you. You can also be assured that God is smiling down on you and blessing you because you have discovered a great universal truth. It doesn’t matter how you love God, for the love given to God will open the door to the constant love God gives to you and resonate in your soul.
    I give my love to God every day, and I always get back the love of God. I am human and make mistakes just like everyone else. I’m not perfect and have my human faults and frailties, which I try to manifest as little as possible, but I also know God loves me and cares for me despite these shortcomings. I have been criticized, defamed, ridiculed and attacked by other human beings on my abilities and writings, but I have always tried my best to do good works for as many people as I can and appreciate those who have been kind enough to send letters or notes on how I have helped them. The people who seek my help, attend my lectures, watch my television appearances, hear my radio broadcasts and read my books are the ones who keep me going. I appreciate and love each one of you.
    With that in mind, know that although I can sometimes be controversial, I would never knowingly keep the truth hidden from you as I have researched it and know it to be. In writing about our Lord I will inevitably come to teachings that I disagree with, but I will always try to be as objective as possible and will always try to give you my reasons for disagreement. I am writing this because now we are getting into the portions of his life that may lead to some controversy. Having said that, let us go forward to explore more of the life of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 4
His Early Ministry and Miracles
    T HERE WAS A GREEK and Roman legend that said if you were truly holy or descended from the gods, you could turn water into wine. This might not be related to Christ’s miracle at Cana, which we discussed in the last chapter, but I want you to understand that throughout the Bible you will find legends and myths from other cultures that are couched or hidden (like the virgin birth we already covered). These myths and legends were inserted in the Bible to give more substance to Christ’s divinity and those around him so as to counter the influences of other religions. In other words, it was simply a case of “my God is better than your god.” Therefore, we have virgin births, heavenly choirs, angels and miracles galore to show an uneducated populace that indeed the God of the Christians is greater than any other god.
    This is not to discredit the miracles of Jesus, for he performed many. It seems he had to fulfill the prophecy that not only he knew, but wanted others to know, that he was from God. Not to malign other messiahs or messengers, but no one has had miracles attributed to them as Christ has. I’m sure that he had direct infused knowledge from God, for he always knew