I recently received an e-mail from a person that goes by Jebus H. Christie. Obviously an alias. The message was of course about Danny Gokey and his wife, Sophia Gokey.  Here is the message:

From: Jebus H. Christie [fake email]

If I exploit my dead wife for personal gain, will you make a website about me?

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I was not surprised when I got this message because there is a lot of talk about Danny Gokey “exploiting his dead wife”. There is even an article in US Weekly about this so called controversy.

I tried to respond to this person, but the email address given did not exist. I want this person to hear my response as well as anyone else who feels this way so I am posting it here.

Here is what I have to say to you Jebus:

Good Morning Jebus H Christie,

It saddens me to hear people think such things about Danny Gokey or any other person who has done nothing wrong. Whether you think this or not, the truth is that Danny Gokey Loved his wife more than anything else. A recent interview with Jamar Rogers even confirms that.

It is so easy to hate. But what you don’t understand is why you hate Danny. It is not because of his fame or even his wife. You hate Danny Gokey because there is emptiness inside of you.

It is an emptiness that you most likely don’t even know about. This is something that you are always trying to fill. You look for joy in all the wrong places. Usually the first thing that gives you any sensation in that empty place in your heart, which is usually hate, you stick to because it something you thought you were looking for.

You may think this is all bull crap, but I still want you to finish reading it.

When I was a young boy I went through many unfortunate situations that drove me to live a life that led to drugs, crime and a lot of Jail time. I went into many different centers for at-risk-youth, and I would always return to the same behavior.

Pastors would come up to me with bibles trying to “Share the Gospel” or whatever and without even thinking I would spit on their Bible and throw it in the trash.

This was hate that I didn’t have any control over. I would ask myself why this person? Why do I get so angry and despise this one person and not others? I didn’t have an answer. I just knew that the name Jesus offended me to the point that I wanted to hurt people using it.

My last visit to a treatment center, I had this strong urge to change my life, behavior and attitude. I tried and tried and tried. I was the same person inside. No matter how I acted on the outside, I still felt the same on the inside.

I was put in front of two men that had been through a similar lifestyle to mine. They shared with me their struggle to change as well. As I sat and tried not to listen to these bible thumping freaks, I felt a sudden silence come over me.

It almost felt like the sound of the voices were somewhat muffled. I felt this euphoric warming come over my entire body. I felt, whole. It is hard for me to explain, but I suddenly realized the hole that I had in my heart.

It’s as if something was telling me to listen intently. These men told me about Jesus and what he did. They told me that if Jesus knew that his sacrifice (dying on the cross) would save only one person, me, he still would’ve done it.

I wasn’t completely convinced. I went back to the treatment center and actually tried to talk to God. It seemed like God was helping me by giving a clear understanding of what the Bible was saying. The next day, the same people I hated the previous day, I didn’t hate them any more. In fact, I treated them with respect.

Their first response was “What is wrong with you?”. Still, I didn’t have an answer. I felt this strong urge to talk to those two guys again. Ask them what they did to me. What type of witch craft is this?

They told me that when you are willing to accept what God has for you, a wonderful gift of joy and love, that God fills you with his spirit and that is what makes you whole.

I started reading the bible and I found verses that describe the emptiness. It says that only God can fill that hole. We will search everywhere trying to fill it with other things but only God is capable.

I will tell you that it took God filling me for me to believe. If anyone hated church it would be me.

Satan likes to trick us and tell us certain things. He likes to put hate in your heart.

One thing you need to ask yourself is does the name Jesus Christ make me feel uncomfortable?

I don’t want your answer. This is for you. I know the human emotions better than many others. I know why you hate Danny. Danny has Jesus Christ dwelling inside of him and that is what sparks that hatred.

It is the same reason I had an uncontrollable hatred towards those pastors and other church goers that tried to tell me about Christ.

I am not saying that you have an uncontrollable hatred towards Christians. Satan affects different people in different ways. I do know this, your comment about making a website for you was filled with a sincere hatred and I even sensed a little pain.

You don’t know me, but you do know God. You have heard his voice many times before in your life. And no matter what you say, that voice you have tried to drown out. It is that tiny nudge you get every now and then.

I want you to know that God is waiting for you to talk to him. That uncomfortable feeling you get is because the “Light cannot exist in Darkness”. God is the Light, and everything outside of him is darkness.

When my father died, I read this passage to him and I want you to read it as well. It is King David calling out to God:

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

There are many things I can say to you, but none of them will mean anything unless you have an open heart.

I want so desperately to show you who God is.

Sincerely,

Joe

PS:

This is an article I found about this Sophia issue:

http://www.dannygokeyblog.com/?p=277

I want you to know,

I don’t care if you like Danny or not. Everyone has their own opinion. But what I sensed was a cry out for answers. You are looking for answers and sometimes we mean something totally different than what we say.

I want you to have what I have.

Tags: danny gokey, hate, jebus, jesus