Gary, thank you for your more civil response, and I will attempt to
respond in kind!

I think that it would help you to understand more of my background, to
understand the basis of the things that I am saying about knowing
Jesus, and praying to Jesus!

I was raised in a non-religious home, we were not Christians, or
anything else as far as that goes! We were atheist, though we did not
even to bother calling ourselves that because that would entail a
reference to God! I did not even consider the terminology of God until
my senior year in High School!

At that time I had an experience while contemplating suicide under a
night sky, that it was as if I saw the stars for the first time - in an
instant, I knew that there was a God, that He Loved us, and that He had
to show Himself to us! I could not find Him with my telescope or
microscope! You see I was a science major, during High School I
carried enough hours to graduate a year early, with a full years worth
of extra classes! I was pretty much a math and science study nurd,
brief case and slide-rule and all! But that experience in the field
changed my life, and my life interest!

I still did not know who this God was, and I had no basis of assuming
that it had anything to do with Jesus, because at that time I knew
absolutely nothing about Jesus! I soon was introduced to Him though,
and started studying the Bible. I probably read the Bible through 10
times the first year, and for 5 years after that! It was my life and
daily bread!

I was born again in March of 1968, about 6 months after my experience
in the field! I was very happy, and very enthused about being a
Christian as I started my new way of living! About 2 years later, in
January of 1970, I experienced another turning point in my life! I
received what is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the
Evidence of Speaking in Tongues! With out going into great
explanation, this was a Soverign act of Grace on Gods part to bestow on
me particular Gifts of the Holy Spirit!

I believe that when I became a Christian, I was infilled by the Holy
Spirit, bringing new Life into my sin dead body. This is what
Christians call Eternal Life! Now I had experienced again the move of
God on me, that really had very little to do with me having read the
Book! At the time this happened, I was involved with a denomination,
that did not believe in Speaking in Tongues, so for me to show up and
try to share with them the great things that had happened to me, only
drew their ire, and they shunned me from their fellowship! This was
very difficult for me to grasp, when something that was so wonderful
that God had given me, would result in something so terrible occuring!
To be rejected by those who I thought loved me!

I was crushed, and while praying about this, and struggling to get my
feet on the ground, I was staying at my folk's house! I had set up a
bedroom in the family living room, where I was sleeping on the floor.
One night as I was sleeping there, I was paid a heavenly visit by a
being! I had no question as to who this visitor was, the Peace and
Love that came from His Person, filled my heart, and all the fear, and
trauma was gone in an instant! There was a "Golden" light that was
coming out from Him, penetrating the whole room, where the light went
through all of the furniture, and I assume myself, where there were no
shadows at all, completely contrary to our natural perception of light!
This light was bright, but not blinding, I would describe it as
warming!

Then just as clearly as I saw Him, I heard Him say, "Go and Fear not, I
am with you always!" Then He just sort of vanished!

I immediately thought that I should have bowed and worshiped Him, and I
did go to see the Spot where He had stood, to see if there was like
burn marks or even an indention in the carpet. But there was nothing!
I was left to pray and thank Him which I did, but with no big fanfare!

Now I have shared these particular things, though there have been many
others, because of your statement,

" The only way I could get to know Jesus is by reading what has been
written in the book. You have no knowledge of him that didn't come from
that book. The book may be true and it may not. We have no way of
proving the truthfulness of all those stories. You can believe them on
faith, but faith is not a method of determining truth.

But you certainly can't get to "know" Jesus."

I have found that the Book always confirms the experiences I have had,
and so Faith comes by hearing, and Hearing by the Word of God, so you
are correct to a point! The point being that each person who has been
born again, also has their personal experiences, that the Holy Spirit
also builds on to build up our faith! I do in fact have knowledge that
came to me apart from the Book! These have come to me by my
experiences, which I cannot deny!

Now I realize that you may not, and probably do not believe the things
that I have shared with you, and that is your choice! But that is not
the point of this discussion either! The point of this discussion, is
what and why I believe certain things about God! Why I believe that
God answers the prayers of believers, and that He even teaches us how
to pray! Now my responsibility is to witness of the good things that I
have seen and heard!

Whether you are convinced, is between you and God! I cannot convince
you, only God, can show you even as He showed Peter, who He is! If
you desire to find out more about these matters, you can feel free to
ask me, but you will eventually have to approach Jesus to show you the
truth of these matters yourself!

All knowledge of Truth comes by Revelation. Even if you read the Book,
but do not have Revelation, the book is a closed book to you! The
subjects are closed, and you cannot understand them! This is not a
reflection on your education, in which you read plenty of books, for I
am sure you have a bright mind to achieve even what you have! It is
just that this subject matter is unlike anything else you have ever
studied, and the Holy Spirit guards this from being casually studied,
like how to build a rocket ship or a nuclear bomb! These matters would
be very simple to comprehend compared to the things of the Spirit! You
have to have Him open your Eyes and Ears, and your Heart and Mind, to
understand! It is not just in the reading of the Book!

And yes, you can get to know Jesus! You can know about Him, and you
can Know Him! He has been faithful to His word to me, He has never
left me alone! By His Spirit, I have gone everywhere I have chosen to
go, and seen miracles of His presence working! Sometimes I have seen
Him working on me, and sometimes working through me, and sometimes I
have seen Him working inspite of me! I have not always been faithful
to the vision of who He is, but He is faithful to Himself! He still
does always those things that are pleasing to the Father!

He even gives me courage to come into this forum, and share some things
that even some Christians have trouble accepting, and call me in
question for even today! That I share these things put me in risk of
your scorn! But please understand, I cannot deny these things to you
or anyone else that has trouble accepting them! I also have had to
struggle with them at times, to understand, and to even decide to
share. But I eventually came to the point, that I could no longer
resist sharing! These are the good things that I have seen and heard,
that I must witness of! My prayer is that you will be able to receive
them, and to know that there is so much more to being a Christian, than
reading the Book, and praying with all your heart and soul and
strength! For we are told, that it is not by our strength, but by the
Holy Spirit, that we run the race that has been set before us! I
challenge you to run the race, if you want to really know what it is
about! Anyone can sit on the sidelines and throw stones at the runners
as they go by!

Gary, thank you for your more civil response, and I will attempt to
respond in kind!