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Perception I have been a Christian now for over 20 years.
I have had many conversations with all kinds of different people and the one
thing I run into is this common perception, a notoriously blanket way of seeing Christians, or people claiming
to be Christian. This perception is the result of past experiences with people claiming to
know God who hurt people with, for lack of a better description, legalistic
stupidity. Traditions of men taught by men… This common perception is filtered by what some people have gleaned from
the media, from a secular perception or popular opinion of Christians... So I am going to challenge you to put aside
your perception, if you can, as you read this… As a Christian I want to assure you...I am not
called to judge you or your life and look down at you in regard to anything I
consider sinful. I don't hate homosexuals...I don't hate Muslims...I don't
think science is evil...and I am not afraid of intelligent questions. I
am not a mindless robot that hasn't questioned God myself.
Now despite all that I am also aware that some of my beliefs, no matter how I
deliver them, will be seen as judgmental and intolerant...I cannot change
your Perception.
Only
the Spirit of Christ Jesus can. In an effort to satisfy any question/s in your
mind concerning the Gospel of Christ Jesus let me say this. I am called,
or purposed by the Father, to share with you that ALL your sin
has been paid for and reconciled by Jesus. Translation from Christianese:
Any thing you have ever struggled with in life...Any thing you have ever done
wrong, or that gut feeling of disconnection, any guilt, any sorrow, any sickness as a result of bad choices...ALL OF IT has
been measured and reconciled by the blood of Jesus. His blood, which he
shed for you being sentenced to death on a Cross, paid for ALL sin. How? He lived a totally righteous life… sinless and pure. He gave
His life as a living sacrifice, not only on the Cross dying for you and me
but among us… He walked in love, in obedience to His Father, in righteous
authority and power. He then laid that life down for us, to buy back our
lives… my life, YOUR life, dead in sin. Jesus once said this “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life
for his friends.” You may not even believe you are sinful and
that's not uncommon, but according to what I have studied and seen, ALL of us
are born into a sinful state. We all fall short being born into this world
and I believe any person that can be totally honest with him or/herself knows
there is an air of truth to that statement. None of us are without some
shortcomings…some sin we deal with. The second part of that Gospel or Truth is that
because of His sacrifice, because of what Jesus endured for us and because of
His Resurrection, we are now able to
come to God. The Way has been provided for us to enter into a personal
relationship with Him. Jesus once said unless you are born of the
Spirit you cannot see, or perceive the When we repent, or turn towards God, when we acknowledge His
call on our lives, that we need HIS sacrifice, that we need to be
delivered from our lives; He in turn is faithful to cleanse us of all
unrighteousness. As a result He gives us a new eternal life in HIM. He forgives
us of all sin and He lives in us and us in Him. He changes our perception. He literally puts his Holy Spirit in us so that we
can live above the circumstances no longer dead in our sin. We are
taught by God, in His Spirit, how to truly be alive forever. His Spirit causes
us to be born of God, to be Alive in Christ Jesus. We literally walk in His
Spirit and give of our lives as He gave His for us…That is what it means to
be a Christian. 1 John 1, John 3 Romans 8 Now why? Why did all this have to be…That
all invoking, all reasoning question...Why? Simply put and that I
pray will pierce your soul and your heart...the simple answer to all
that is entailed in that imperative "why?" is this... Sincerely, |