Dear gentle Gino,

Of course you are "one of them" according to F.M.Riley. LOL.You have had the brazen cheek to think and research the scriptures on your own. For the F.M. Riley's of this world - this will simply not do. I would have greater sympathy for Mr Riley if he truly did feel this was a salvation issue - but surely (?) he knows that it isn't?

Years ago, in London, there was a lonely homeless man who would shout insults and slurs to all women who passed him by in the underground (subway). Simply for the sin of being born female. We females would simply laugh, in the beginning. It only took a few weeks before we ignored him completely. Not to be nasty - but because he had become mere background noise by that stage. This further enraged him and he became louder - more insulting.. resulting in him being beaten up by a young man who took great umbrage to what he was saying. The homeless man took little time to recover and he was soon back - spitting insults at all females. You see - he loved the attention. Even negative attention. It validated his lonely existence. I stopped reading Mr Riley's posts a long time ago. He insulted me personally, without having the courage to name me in the posts. I replied and defended my scriptural understanding. He never bothered to reply to my reply. He had achieved what he wanted. Attention!

Your letter made me open one of Mr Riley's posts today and I'm glad I did. He included the testimony of a young man who had a vision of the future re the end of days for America. Fascinating stuff. I did have a chuckle though. Mr Riley readily accepts this vision as true yet would have none of Natan's testimony. Why? Because it doesn't fit in with Mr Riley's dogmatic stance of a future 7 year tribulation. This Daniel 9:27 stuff has become Mr Riley's raison d'etre.  I won't be opening his posts again. Background noise.

I would be more sympathetic to Mr Riley's obvious need for attention if I truly believed his insults were the result of senility creeping on. But I have a strong feeling that it is deeper than that. That it comes from a place of deep-seated nastiness.

Use the stance that Garry B has taken, if you feel the need to read Mr Riley's pontifications. Garry B simply provides further scriptural evidence for his beliefs. Notice how Mr Riley does not name Garry B in his rantings. He keeps it generic. Haha. So cowardly.

From your letters, you are the loveliest Christian man, Gino. I am so looking forward to meeting you. It is so exciting to think this could be very, very soon! Eeeeeeeek!

YSIC

Fay