My relationship with God …
By John Oliva
President Oliva Tobacco
Recently , my friend , Victor Padilla , called to ask about a group of men he heard met at our building every week to study the word of God . He had spoken to Tim Paskert , the young man who leads and moderates our bible study and was impressed . He asked if I would write something for the Latin Times about my relationship with God . I initially turned him down and suggested that Tim was much more capable of this task but even before fully verbalizing this response I experienced the sensation one feels when consciously choosing the “ easy ” rather than the “ right ” course of action . I was coping out and knew it so I stopped mid-sentence , accepted his invitation and thanked him for the opportunity .
My preference would be to demonstrate what I believe in by how I live , but I believe God wants it heard as well as demonstrated that I have no problem stating my relationship with Him to anyone , and I don ’ t . It is simple . He is my Creator . He is the Being that proved his love by sending His Son , Jesus Christ , to die on a cross for my wrongdoings so I can spend eternity with Him as I have chosen . He is the only Being to have resurrected Himself from the dead as prophesized . He is the Being that guides me on a daily basis to make the right choices . Admittedly , I have too often not followed His guidance but it was and remains always my decision . God is with me 24 / 7 from birth to eternal life and He is available to everyone who accepts Him as I have . That ’ s just about how my relationship with God has been since I can remember although there have been some subtle changes as I have aged . My prayers to and conversations with Him have taken a more direct form . The Holy Spirit is with me every day so I speak directly to Him in the same way I would speak to my best friend and , yes He speaks back , just not out loud yet .
I mostly ask Him to remove the shadow from the cloud of doubt that seems to block his eternal light from time to time and He always complies . It ’ s so simple and it ’ s just like He says ; all you have to do is ask .
Like most human relationships , little by little I started to take the one I had with God for granted and believed I was in control of just about everything in my life so about six years ago I got a real spiritual wakeup call that let me know unequivocally that I was in control of nothing . I accepted this fact immediately and asked for His forgiveness . Again , He complied . At this point I decided to read the bible . Although I had attended Catholic school for 12 years I had never really read nor consciously studied the world ’ s number one bestseller . About six months later , The Holy Spirit , enlisted the services of my close friend , Mondy Flores , to start a bible study with only one simple rule : It was to be strictly non-denominational . We would focus only on the Word . Our first meetings consisted of four regular attendees : John Reaves , Wade Entzminger , Mondy , and myself . We met at John Reaves ’ s office and welcomed all who wanted to come . We began to grow and moved to our cigar factory in West Tampa a couple of years ago . Everything fell into place perfectly . Tim Paskert , fresh out of Theology school , took over as our moderator / referee ( we have some energized discussions and tend to go off in tangents more often than not ). One of our most loyal attendees , Dave Brewer , named our group “ The Cigar City Bible Study ” and the name stuck . The study has grown to an average of about 25 to 30 guys ranging in age from the mid 20 ’ s to the mid 70 ’ s . We definitely have more serious fun than any group I have ever been a part of and , from every indication ; this study has had a positive influence on every single participant in one form or another .
For me it is my time to learn , open my mind and give serious thought on why I ’ m here , where I ’ m going , where my priorities are , where they should be and why . It ’ s just a happy time where I have seen what I would define as miracles and where I strengthen my personal relationship with God and I am filled with the sincere desire to have everyone experience the same happiness and peace this relationship has given me .