Hello world!

This is a new blog dedicated to exploring my faith and tracking my journey to finding a pulpit and making a difference in the world.  At times, to some, this may seem “light” at others “heavy.”  But each is given to understand God the way God means to be understood, right then, right there, for that person and that person alone. 

Too often I read about men of faith who preach one thing, do another, and yet maintain (or try to maintain) their “nearness of perfection.”  Well in my own rather gritty way I call “BS on that!”  I am far from perfect, but I try to be better every day.  If I were perfect then it would be Waynianity not Christianity and that’s a lot of pressure…  There was only one perfect being to date, and that was Jesus the son of God. 

Yes I have a past.  No I’m not particularly proud of everything in that past, however God and that past DID make me the man I am today.  And frankly, I am quite comfortable in my own skin right now, as well as being comfortable in knowing that God’s work on, in, and through me has not ceased but will continue on and on and on… After all with baptism comes rebirth and forgiveness.  And when our sins are forgiven, we’re not just an “improved” version of our old self–we’re a completely new person! We’re no longer bound to any of the guilt or shame that previously bound us; we are, spiritually speaking, a new creation. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!

 I am also working on a BS/MS in Clinical Pastoral Counseling and seeking a pulpit in which to practice my faith and spread the message I feel God is calling me to do.  That message is not to buy me a mercedes, jaguar or cadillac; not to buy me a multi-million dollar home; that message is to get back to basics taught by Jesus of tolerance and love.  Love for one’s neighbor being one of God’s two greatest commandments per the words of Jesus:

Matthew 22:37-40

³⁷Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[a] 38}This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[b] 40}All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Notice He didn’t say “like” your neighbor, He said “love your neighbor as yourself.”  This means you can disagree and/or even avoid socializing with your neighbor, but you’re supposed to love them the way you love yourself.  Stand up for those who cannot do so for themselves, assist those in need, tolerate differing opinions, but do not hate nor do harm unto those as you would not hate nor do harm unto yourself.  Recent economic events should have at least taught some that many of us are only a paycheck or less away from needing someone to reach out and help us regain our self-sufficiency.

 

 

So with all of that in mind take a moment today to reflect and mourn the loss of those who died in the attacks of 9/11 and those who have died in the war since then. And when I say “those who died” I mean both sides, for those who carried out the attacks are no less deserving of our prayers. Think on that, had they not followed “false teachers” who perverted the words of their prophet, turning those words and teachings into manifestos of hate and intolerance, then possibly the events of 9/11 would not have occurred. Think also on that fact as you hear those so called leaders of Christianity espousing words of hate and intolerance, and dwell on the fact that the Jesus said in John 3:16 16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And recall as well that the Old Testament contains many laws and rules, the most famous being the Ten Commandments. But Jesus said that all of those rules boiled down to two things: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. (see Matthew 22:36-40 – 36″Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”) The “Golden Rule,” remember it from your childhood Sunday School classes? Well that “Golden Rule” has its basis here, in Jesus’ command that we are to love others as we would like to be loved in turn.

If our adherence to rules or commandments isn’t producing these two things, we’ve missed the entire point.