Personal Spiritual Values

Religion….? Not really. But better.

First of all, this website is not about division. Part of my great concern with our society is that we’ve lost the ability to disagree without poking each other’s eyes out. But, yeah I am a conservative in my theological views and my political views. But- 1) The theological views mean a whole lot more to me that political views and 2) Even if I disagree with you, I can love you, interact with you, talk with you, and maybe even debate you without being mean and condescending to you. Some of that is part of my personality, but not all. Much of that is a learned skill. You have to be intentional and proactive about being kind to those with whom you disagree. It frustrates me that so many people can’t seem to get that.

I can’t say that I’m going to be your buddy if you’re warped enough to fly airplanes into buildings to kill people, or on another hand, … tell me that you have a God who tells you to picket, protest, and ruin the funeral of a family who just lost their son in line fo duty. There is crazy junk out there and that’s not where I’m going with this. I’m saying that we could still possibly be friends even if we are on different planets in terms of spirituality or politics. A lot of people are not thinking that way today. But Jesus did. So, will I speak about my faith? Sometimes I surely will. Will I back peddle on it? Nope. But…

Conservative Values?

…..will I beat you over the head with it to the point that I ruin the chance at a relationship with you, or maybe even a friendship? No. So in the world of “religion” I’m labeled a conservative, and in the world of theology, I’m labeled as a conservative. Guilty on both counts. However, there are people who I really care about that carry the label “liberal.” I’m not going to back up on my belief system. However, I want you to be able to dig around on this website and get encouragement, good content, helpful life tips, etc., regardless if you are right, left, or center. So, if disagree in the remainder of this post, don’t just write me off. Give me a chance, and help me make a difference in the world. So here we go….

I get aggravated with religion. There are a lot of man-made religions on this planet. So, I don’t really talk a lot about religion. However, I do talk about a real God. I believe He did create this universe. And I believe he actually loves us as individuals and wants to have a relationship with us. That’s pretty astounding.

I do call myself a Christian. And I hope I act like a person who doesn’t defame that name. If you want to talk about Christianity, it really only comes down to a couple of primary questions. At least… one primary question.

 

Really Big Question – Actually the Biggest

People have to come to the conclusion about the Bible. Is the Bible actually God’s word to us? Or is it a bunch of semi-historical stories and allegories, etc., etc.

And my answer to the former question is yes. Yes, I do believe that the Bible is the word of God – factual and accurate. I’ve studied and researched for a lot of years and the early manuscripts of the biblical texts are some of the most reliable historical documents ever known to man.

So, if the answer to “do I believe the Bible is God’s word is ‘yes,'” then I am confronted with 2nd question which is THE most monumental question one will ever face in their lives. That question is “What do I believe about this Biblical and historical man from a little town called Nazareth?  

I’m speaking about the person whom biblical writers and first-century historians wrote about. He was called Jesus Christ.

So, as short as I can make it….

A Short Long Story

God formed man and woman in His own image. However, He gave them choice. He didn’t make them robots who had to love Him because forced love is not love.

Man -Adam and Eve chose to disobey and rebel against what God had asked and immediately they died – not immediately in a physical sense, but spiritually. That brought huge separation between God and his creation – man.

So, something or someone was needed to bridge this enormous gap that was now between God and man. In the old testament, God established a very strict sacrificial system of animals with the Israelites. He also gave them hundreds of laws to keep. These included the ten biggies we refer to as The Ten Commandments. But they just could not keep all the rules, just like we can’t.

But, come to find out, one of the primary reasons for those laws was to point to the fact that they/we did not have the power to perfectly obey all of those laws. The Israelites of the Bible couldn’t and we can’t either. So, there had to be a plan to pay for our wrongdoings and get away from the old sacrificial system found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Sound far-fetched? Not really. All along God was setting up, and pointing to a plan that was far greater than any sacrificial system of redemption that any man could ever conceive.

The Big Plan

God was way ahead of everyone. Yeah, He saw the plan all the way from the beginning. His plan was to send His son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be born as a baby, grow up to be a man, heal the sick, raise the dead, and yeah- he even walked on water.

But then, the pivotal point in all of human history came when they (we) hung him on a Roman cross (only because he was willing), and He became that sacrifice to pay for all of our misdeeds and wrongdoings. There would be no more need for the Old Testament sacrificial system of bull and rams. He was the ultimate sacrifice.

He was the plan. Jesus fully bought in and signed off on the plan.

He gave up his life. No one could take it from him had He not. So, we killed him with a brutal form of early capital punishment called a cross. And…He died….really…graveyard dead.

However, on the most miraculous day in history which not only biblical characters, but early historians have written about – His body went missing from the tomb where they laid Him.

On the third day after being in the grave, Jesus Christ rose up from that grave defeating and sealing the fate of the Enemy of God and establishing a new way for us to get back into a right and wonderful relationship with God.

Check it out. If you truly study the resurrection, you will find it to be one of the most historically visited accounts of anything that has ever happened on this planet. Eyewitness accounts who saw Him dead, three days later, saw Him alive.

Meaning What?

So, what did that mean for me? It meant that if I personally believed in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, accept His sacrifice, asking Him to apply His forgiveness to me, I would be brought into right standing with Him. There are lots of names for that experience – accepting Christ, being born-again (Jesus actually used that term), becoming a Christian, getting saved, trusting Christ as your Savior – whatever you want to call it – it’s an experience that actually brings new spiritual life to a person. It changes a person forever.

The fact is, that I and billions of others have trusted Jesus Christ and placed our faith in Him as our Savior, our Lord, and the most intimate personal relationship that we have. Along with that, God arranged for His Holy Spirit to come and reside in us, living and giving us direction and guiding us through our daily lives. We have direct access to the heavenly Father through our prayers, through his written word, and as He prompts us on a continual basis to love and serve one another.

I will do some more writing later about my faith because this is a simple “scratch the surface” post.

But, bottom line. For me, it’s not about a religion. It’s about “What decision do I make about Jesus Christ?”

I believe He was God in a pair of sandals come down to earth to redeem me and to give me an eternal life with Him forever.

I’m all in. I am staking my entire life on that.

What do you think?