Hello, and welcome to another installment in Counselor's Corner. Have you ever noticed how many different versions of Christianity there are? I mean, you have Roman Catholics, just plain Catholic, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Independent Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Pentacostal, Pentacostal Holiness, Seventh Day Adventist, Mormons, Wesleyans, Methodists, and the list goes on and on. Why is it that there are so many different ways of doing the same thing? Our religious symbols, Catholics keep Jesus on the cross, protestants don't have Jesus on the cross, and mormons don't even use the cross. There are books in the Bible that aren't acknowledged by most protestants. They are in another book called the Apocrapha. If you go into a Methodist church, generally you don't hear Amens when the preacher makes a good point. In some baptist churches, you hear amens, you hear the preacher condemning you to Hell and alot of yelling, and you may think the pulpit is going get pulverized. In some pentacostal churches you hear people "speaking in toungues," running up and down the aisles, and dancing through out the service. If you sit back and think of all these differences, you have to ask yourself, why? In the politically correct world that we live in now, it is hard enough to get Jesus' name mentioned in public. Why do we get so wrapped up in our beliefs that we forget why we believe? I could go on for days about different beliefs in Christianity, but I want to get to my main arguement about religion. I believe in Jesus Christ, Son of the Lord God Almighty. Does that make me a Baptist? Methodist? Pentacostal? Catholic? No, it makes me a Christian. My belief in Christ is my pass to Heaven. I don't understand why so many different sects of religion tell you that you have to jump through flaming hoops to get there. Grace is free, salvation is free, a ticket to Heaven is free. The only thing that is asked of you is that you believe in the way, the truth, and the light that is Jesus Christ. You do all of the good works in thanks for your salvation, not to pay for your salvation. That goes for all people. Now, if you don't truly believe in Jesus, I hope you like it hot, because you won't make it into Heaven, and I don't have to tell you your other choice I don't think. What I believe is that we must all come together and take a stand against the secular world that won't let workers in department stores say Merry Christmas. Cities that won't let you put a religious symbol on a float in a Christmas parade. Governments that say they tolerate religious freedom, but don't want to offend anyone by saying we believe in Jesus. That is a call to ALL Christians. That is the message I want to convey today. Thank you for listening.
