Friday, December 21, 2007

HIV/AIDS

Scarlet Letter: A Christian With AIDS
The following is a actual letter I sent to a close Christian friend in 1999, immediately after I was diagnosed with HIV. Since then the HIV has progressed on into AIDS.

Does God Heal Today?
When I was first diagnosed with the HIV virus, I read innumerable articles on it and later suffered from an information overload and depressing confusion. One article would speak in favor of taking the highly toxic HIV/AIDS medicines, and then I'd read another one that spoke against it with just as convincing of an argument.

3 comments:

lcmslutheran said...

There is a little bit of bargaining with God going on here. 'Please, God. I'll be a good boy if you'll just heal me." It's a little late to be celibate.
Secondly, God does not promise us a whole and healthy life. I would suppose that, this being Friday night, that there is a teenager somewhere who has wrapped a car around a telephone pole and ended a life only scarcely begun. Their parents would probably like to do some bargaining with God. How many years past that teens life are you? How many years are we guaranteed?

David Ben-Ariel said...

Haven't you noticed there's a lot of bargaining with God in the Bible? However, nowhere in my article do I "bargain" with God that I'll be good if He heals me. And nowhere do I state God promises everybody a whole and healthy life. And it's never too late to be celibate. That's as foolish as saying it's too late to REPENT of any sin, which it's not because as long as there is life, there's hope for repentance.

larry said...

David, I had no idea. But it doesn't matter. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, nothing can hurt you, either physically or spiritually. And there is no reason for guilt feelings either. Christ took all that away too. God looks on the heart, and is MUCH more concerned about how you think than what you do or don't do!
David, I am a physician, and I seen every aspect of this disease and watched some friends die from it. I know what you are going through, and what you will go through. I also know where you are spiritually. I have been there and know what you know. But I also know what you don't know. God truly appreciates your efforts on His behalf, and you have a reward in the Kingdom of God. And you will not be alone. Frankly, I think you will be surprised at who will be there with you.