I don't have the ability to articulate my beliefs on a highly intellectual level, or with mind blowing clarity, that will convince many of the love of God. My decision to accept him was made many years ago and long before I began to study the Bible. It wasn't from family pressure because mine wasn't exactly a very devout family. My belief was more of a gradual process and innate feeling of God's presence. I was no angel in my younger years, and hardly qualify for sainthood now, but I have believed in God for most of my life. I have studied my Bible and, through the years, have found it to be more than a dusty old book. If for no other reason, one can judge the Bible's accuracy by the prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past and up to the present day. Prophecy is only considered authentic if the event prophesied comes to pass. So many have been authenticated by having already come to pass that it is difficult to see why one can't come to believe just on that point alone. The Middle East prophesies are before our eyes and, if one were to read the Bible, they can be seen as well as the eventual outcome. There are so many other things in the Bible that have been rules and guides for our lives and have brought us to be a civilized nation. Unfortunately, when we left God out of our lives, our nation has started to crumble. Regardless of what religion one professes (or not), the fact that our nation has gone downhill since removing God cannot be refuted, given reasonable and objective thought. I try to live a good life and follow the Bible. I fail at a lot of things but I do have the knowledge that Jesus Christ has atoned for my sins by the gift of His life. I want to believe that when my spirit leaves this world, He will be standing there waiting for me. If, as the atheists believe, there is no God, death will only mean that religion had been a myth and I will have lost nothing. On the other hand, however, if, when we die, there is a God and the atheists have failed to accept Him, they have lost everything and have to accept the resulting consequences.