The Nuts and Bolts of Who I Am…
A person is defined by a number of factors, all of which are impacted by his or her personal belief system. I used to simply tell people that “I’m a Christian”, however it seems that that label has been left open to as many definitions as there are people who choose to wear it. I’ve done a lot of soul searching in recent years as family tragedies have tried to rock the very foundation upon which I’ve based my life for the last 32 years. I’ve also observed very disturbing behaviors in other people who’ve chosen to wear my label of Christian. After prayerful consideration, I have decided that I am simply a disciple of Jesus Christ.
What I Don’t Believe:
- I don’t believe that Jesus hates people, no matter what their race, religious belief, sexual orientation or lifestyle happens to be. I’m not a homophobe, an Islamophobe, or a heathenophobe (that’s literary license in use). The Bible says that “the love of God was shed abroad into the hearts of men.” His love and his message brought about change in people. Just look at Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman brought to him who’d been caught in the act of adultery. The only time Jesus gets critical with people is when he gets angry with the religious leaders and the money changers in the temple. Everywhere else it says He had compassion on the people.
- I don’t believe that sharing the Good News of the Gospel includes telling people how many reasons there are that they are “going to hell”. Mark recounts the following incident to us in the part of the Bible that he wrote: 14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,that the blind will see,that the oppressed will be set free,19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. (Isaiah 61:2).
- I don’t believe that the church is a building where only “perfect” people are all supposed to hang out and pat each other on the back – face it, we’d have some empty buildings! Jesus told a story about a wedding party where the bigshot guests who’d been invited made all kinds of lame excuses for not showing up. The parents who were hosting the wedding feast got angry and told their hired help to go out into the highways (go up and down all the streets) and tell everyone they ran into to come to the feast. I love what the MAtthew’s account tells us: “So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” – (Matthew 22:10)
- I don’t believe that someone has to “get themselves right with God” before I will deem them worthy to spend time with. If I remember correctly, Jesus constantly pissed off the Pharisees and Sadducees by hanging out with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes… It was HIS influence on them, a.k.a. His LOVE for them, that caused a change in their lives.
I do believe the following:
- A personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not religion, IS the only way to get to Heaven. While God’s love and grace are extended to everyone, it is the responsibility of each individual to acknowledge and accept that love and to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ on a daily basis.
- God is bigger, better and closer than we can imagine. He’s right here with us, and He really wants to be YOUR friend.
- The Bible is God’s perfect guidebook for living. If you break down what Jesus said, He tells us that God’s law can be summed up in two things: Love God. Love others.
- Jesus is God showing himself to us. Since we can’t understand spiritual things from a flesh viewpoint, God sent His son to be an example for us.
- Through His Holy Spirit, God lives in and through us now. God knows we can’t even love others without help, so He sent His Spirit to help us with that…if we’ll let Him.
- Nothing in Creation “just happened” God made it all. Science really does bear this out. And for those who challenge the idea of a “Causeless cause”, the Big Bang Theory has the same “flaw”. Where did the stuff come from that came together and went bang?
- Grace is the only way to have a relationship with God. Nobody’s got their act together enough to earn a relationship with God based on works. But God knew that, so formed a plan where everyone was on a level playing field. “Here’s a free gift. Take it…no strings attached.”
- Faith is the only way to grow in our relationship with God. This is what trips people up. We are a people who want to see PROOF. God works on faith. We believe first and then we see it. I won’t argue, that one’s hard at times. But he even makes provision for that.
- God has allowed evil to provide us with a choice, God can bring good even out of evil events and God promises victory over evil to those who choose Him. God doesn’t cause evil in our lives, Lucifer does a good enough job of that on his own. But because God doesn’t want slaves, He wants friends and children, He allows us to choose whatever side we want to be on. For those who choose God, He walks us through to victory.
- Heaven and hell are real places. Death is a beginning not the end. Hell is not a big party where all your friends are. It’s worse than the worst pain and suffering you can ever imagine. You don’t want to go there. It wasn’t even created for people. It was created for satan and the rest of the fallen angels. If you’ll trust me on any one thing, trust me here. Choose heaven.
- The Church is to serve people as Jesus served people. My pastor has two sayings that I’ve always appreciated: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” and “We are blessed to be a blessing.” This is an area that I feel like the “church”…the people who call themselves Christians have really dropped the ball. Things like the Welfare Department and FEMA should never even have been needed. It’s the Christians who are supposed to meet those needs. I heard a quote the other day that says, ” The church isn’t called to Impress. The church is called to Impact.”
- Jesus is coming again. I believe this with all my heart. It is prophesied and I see the prophesies coming to pass right in front of my eyes.
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