FAITH

OK, so this is my blog, so I get to write stuff like this.  Please indulge me a little.  I saw this ad in Time magazine, and it brought back my quest for the truth and my spiritual awakening 15 years ago.  You see, I was tired of attending church and feeling that I was wasting my time.  Sure, I felt a little better attending and there was some good people around to get to know, but something was missing, big time.  You see, I was doing the thing that the Universalist Church was talking about.....

The text is small, but it says a place where" you can be inspired and encouraged as you search for your own truth and meaning".  That is it!That is the problem that I was having with going to church.  The very reason I was having issues with the church(and the reason, I think, most mainline churches are failing nowadays) and is the supposed drawing point for this Unitarian church.  You see, if I could find my own meaning, then what was the point of going to church?  I could do that on the golf course or hanging out at the house reading the paper and watching football games. I'm sure the folks that attend that church are desperately affirming each other in their choices as to what is right or wrong, but it comes down to the fact that it is just their own opinions.

What it came down to was whether there was a real God and who gets to make the rules.  Who is in charge.  If I was my own God, I could do that, but if God was real, then He got to be in charge.  I discovered that Jesus said "he who saves his own life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will save it".  Hmmmmmmm.  Once I decided that maybe there was a God and I should actually investigate what He had to say, I was stunned.  If God is who He says He is, and Jesus really died to pay the penalty for my sins, then all my "cherry picking" of the bible was useless.  I needed to decide who was going to be God in my life....me or Him.  You see, the bible is plain as to what the gospel is about.  We choose to do it our own way, and God gives us the choice to follow that path.  If we did not have the power of choice, then we could not choose to love Him and be with Him forever.  If we choose to be our own God and live how we see fit, then God will allow it.  The huge problem with that, however, is that the God we choose in that situation doesn't demand anything of us and cannot save us, because we don't think we need to be saved from anything.  We think that we are pretty good, at least good enough to get to heaven, if it exists.  And we can live our life how WE SEE FIT.  That is the key.  There is no understanding of our sin and it's eternal cost.  There is no gratitude for the death penalty that Jesus took for us on the cross.  We get to decide.......and we really do...until we die.  Then we will be judged.  You see, God is a God of love, and this was displayed on the cross.  But God is also a "lawgiver and judge, one who is able to save and destroy".  We will be judged on that day, and only those who are perfect will be allowed to spend eternity in heaven.  As it says in Psalms 5:5  , "God cannot dwell with those who sin, and He hates all those who do wrong".  We can do what we decide is right or wrong and go to a church who will affirm all of that nonsense, but on judgment day...it will be God's rules.  And His rules are the 10 commandments. 

Jesus died on the cross for a reason.  The reason is that we need the righteousness of Christ to be made perfect in God's eyes on the day of judgment.  To be made right with God, we must understand our need for a Savior.  The bible says our sins are breaking God's law...the 10 commandments.  We may think that we are ok, but the bible also says that if we sin once, we are guilty of everything.  "The wages of sin is death"...without a Savior, we will be where we chose to be, in a place of "eternal destruction, shut out from the presence of the Lord".  But it doesn't  have to be that way.  God's own Son paid the death penalty we all deserve on the cross and offers you eternal life with Him in heaven.  But it is still a choice.  This gift was bought with a terrible price and to receive it, you must actually understand what it is.  This gift was necessary because you(and everyone else), are not good enough to get into heaven by yourselves.  All the other churches and faiths in the world have a list of good things to do, so that you can get to heaven.  This is nonsense.  No one can be good enough.  Jesus said that there is only one good, and that is God.  We need the goodness of God to be in heaven, and we can only get that by dying to our old sinful life and living for God.  To repent, or hate our old sinful life, and put all our trust and faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross for us.  To RECEIVE the gift of eternal life and be changed to a new person.  Jesus said that this is a "new spiritual birth" and you cannot be saved unless you do this.  You will be a new person,  a child of God. You will live a life for God and submit to His rules because He knows best....not you.  You will be destined for  heaven when you die and you will know it.  All the other religions and churches cannot offer this, and are a waste of time. 

For those of you who actually read this, thanks.  And I encourage you to investigate this and let me know if you have any comments of questions. 

Church in Manitou.... Sorry.  We are helped by God, not "our lady".  I assume they mean Mary the mother of Jesus, who was a sinner in need of a Savior also.  She is in heaven by the grace of God and is not to be prayed to.  She is in heaven only by repenting of her sins and receiving the gift of eternal life by trusting in Jesus and His payment for her sins on the cross. As Jesus said, she had to be "born again".  Because we are spiritually dead, due to our sins, only a spiritual rebirth can help.  This is the help we need. We cannot get into heaven by our good works, going to church or being baptized.  Our "help" is what Jesus did on the cross only.  Only by His righteousness can we go to heaven.  The bible says that only those who have "received Him" have the right to be called the children of God.  Hate your sin(repent) and trust Jesus today for His payment for your sin.  Receive the righteousness of Christ and live with Him forever.  Today is the day of salvation.   Only God is to be worshiped and glorified.   But it is a cute church.