This entry is about my faith. If you have no interest in reading about that, then ignore this entry and read whichever entries here look interesting to you. Or, go do something else entirely.
I figured I should explain this because I do mention it on the blog and Twitter.
I consider Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior. By "Jesus Christ" I mean the person depicted in the Bible.
There has been much bad and outright false depiction and representation of Jesus, sometimes from churches and sometimes from individuals who identify as Christian. I do not defend any of that. People, including people who make up churches, are flawed. But Jesus has also inspired an enormous amount of good.
Jesus was (is) a historical person. He is a real person who acted in history. He's alive and still exists, and always will, so I refer to Him in the present tense.
The nutshell core of my faith is this:
Fallen human beings are lost and separated from fellowship with God without the redemption provided by Jesus, who is fully Divine and, since taking on a human nature, is also fully human. Born a Jew, He lived a sinless life, ministered face-to-face, made disciples, blessed people with miracles, and suffered and died for our sins to provide reconciliation to God. He resurrected from the dead, lives, and will appear again. There will be a resurrection of the dead and transforming of the universe. Those who fellowship with Him will have eternal life.
There's lot more to it, but that's the core. This life isn't all there is, life as we know it will not continue this way forever, there is ultimate justice ahead, and what we do can matter for eternity.
I encourage you to investigate Jesus for yourself. The best way to do that is to:
1. Read the Bible. Start with the Gospels. There are many translations. Reading more than one can be helpful. Some good ones include NIV, ESV, NASB (or NASV), KJV,/NKJV, RSV/NRSV. (NWT is NOT a good translation.) Keep in mind there is a context to everything. The Gospels are from 2,000 years ago, when there were some customs we don't have today. Remember there is a context to all of it, and the Bible has different literary styles throughout.
2. Pray. Prayer is focusing on God and talking to God. This isn't for God's benefit. It is for yours. If you don't know what to say, just talk to Him. It's OK to say you don't understand something, or you have doubts, or you're upset about something. It can help to remember the acronym ACTS. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. That means to approach Him acknowledging He is Lord, confessing your sins and dependence on Him, thanking Him for what He has done, and then expressing your concerns for others and yourself. But you don't have to stick to that; just talk to Him and meditate about Him.
3. Browse some good online resources. This is pretty good place.
4. Look for a healthy, well-balance church. This might help. And this. See what I wrote here about avoiding problematic organizations. Churches put their information online, so check out their webpage and social media. Maybe do a search on the name of the church to see if there is criticism, but keep in mind people have gripes about some churches that are the result of very biased perspectives, a bad personal experience with a handful of people, or outright lies/delusions. Some churches put their services online, so you can check them out before actually going in-person. If you do go in-person, observe and listen to how people are behaving before and after the service.
If you're someone who thinks my faith is based on fiction, that doesn't prevent me from wanting to interact with you.
As you can tell from reading this blog and my tweets, having this faith does not require me to agree with everything about the "Evangelical" subculture. For example, I'm not convinced there is a standing Biblical command for each individual believer to marry and have children.
I figured I should explain this because I do mention it on the blog and Twitter.
I consider Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior. By "Jesus Christ" I mean the person depicted in the Bible.
There has been much bad and outright false depiction and representation of Jesus, sometimes from churches and sometimes from individuals who identify as Christian. I do not defend any of that. People, including people who make up churches, are flawed. But Jesus has also inspired an enormous amount of good.
Jesus was (is) a historical person. He is a real person who acted in history. He's alive and still exists, and always will, so I refer to Him in the present tense.
The nutshell core of my faith is this:
Fallen human beings are lost and separated from fellowship with God without the redemption provided by Jesus, who is fully Divine and, since taking on a human nature, is also fully human. Born a Jew, He lived a sinless life, ministered face-to-face, made disciples, blessed people with miracles, and suffered and died for our sins to provide reconciliation to God. He resurrected from the dead, lives, and will appear again. There will be a resurrection of the dead and transforming of the universe. Those who fellowship with Him will have eternal life.
There's lot more to it, but that's the core. This life isn't all there is, life as we know it will not continue this way forever, there is ultimate justice ahead, and what we do can matter for eternity.
I encourage you to investigate Jesus for yourself. The best way to do that is to:
1. Read the Bible. Start with the Gospels. There are many translations. Reading more than one can be helpful. Some good ones include NIV, ESV, NASB (or NASV), KJV,/NKJV, RSV/NRSV. (NWT is NOT a good translation.) Keep in mind there is a context to everything. The Gospels are from 2,000 years ago, when there were some customs we don't have today. Remember there is a context to all of it, and the Bible has different literary styles throughout.
2. Pray. Prayer is focusing on God and talking to God. This isn't for God's benefit. It is for yours. If you don't know what to say, just talk to Him. It's OK to say you don't understand something, or you have doubts, or you're upset about something. It can help to remember the acronym ACTS. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. That means to approach Him acknowledging He is Lord, confessing your sins and dependence on Him, thanking Him for what He has done, and then expressing your concerns for others and yourself. But you don't have to stick to that; just talk to Him and meditate about Him.
3. Browse some good online resources. This is pretty good place.
4. Look for a healthy, well-balance church. This might help. And this. See what I wrote here about avoiding problematic organizations. Churches put their information online, so check out their webpage and social media. Maybe do a search on the name of the church to see if there is criticism, but keep in mind people have gripes about some churches that are the result of very biased perspectives, a bad personal experience with a handful of people, or outright lies/delusions. Some churches put their services online, so you can check them out before actually going in-person. If you do go in-person, observe and listen to how people are behaving before and after the service.
If you're someone who thinks my faith is based on fiction, that doesn't prevent me from wanting to interact with you.
As you can tell from reading this blog and my tweets, having this faith does not require me to agree with everything about the "Evangelical" subculture. For example, I'm not convinced there is a standing Biblical command for each individual believer to marry and have children.
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