Most of you guys that have access to my blog know me pretty well. You know that for years I was very in to church and God and religion. I was very dedicated to my church and honestly believed that I knew what I was talking about. More importantly I believed that the other people in my faith knew what they were talking about.
It turns out that after being out church for a couple of years now I realize that I had placed my faith in faulty people with bad information.
I saw the Da Vinci Code last night and it got me to thinking (again). I know that the movie is fictional and that the story is pretty far-fetched and takes a few liberties with history and fact. But I think people who stop there are missing Dan Brown's point. He is not necessarily trying to make you believe the Jesus/Mary thing as much as he is trying to make you understand that there is a lot more history behind our Bible and our Beliefs than is being taught in our Sunday School classes.
My friends know that where I am today is a far cry from where I was on this issue a few short years ago. How did I come to this conclusion? Well for one, I was kind of forced into it. I made some mistakes in my past, as we all do, but unlike the promise I had been fed by God's people, I was not forgiven for it. Instead I felt like I had been abandoned. And that was the first time I began to search for other answers about the real God.
Here are a few observatiosn that I have made:
1. God's church is not the one that is being "played" right now on every other corner in Memphis.God's church does not hide in it's buildings and pat itself on the back for making a lot of money in the collection plate this week. God' church belongs in the mission field (home and abroad).
2. God demands our worship and our love. He is forgiving and I believe that he finds it repulsive when hypocritcal Christians cannot stop gossiping about someone else's hardships to forgive, forget, or lend a helping hand.
3. I believe that God loves all people, no matter what their past, present, or future. I don't think God cares if you have a drink, smoke a cigarette, get high, sleep with the same sex, or sleep around. I do think that he honors marriage and those who hold it as a sacred union. And I think he cares whether or not you have true and good intentions.
4. I believe in Jesus Christ as a saviour. But I believe that he was a man of God not an actual God. Otherwise it would defeat his entire purpose for dying on the cross.
5. I don't know what I believe about the death and resurrection, but I know that what is said in churches every single Sunday cannot be entirely true.
I believe that I am loved by God and I believe that one day we will understand his true nature and his true plans for mankind. Until then I think it is our job to seek answers and question everything that we are taught. And then we are to draw our own conclusions, just like I have above.
Lastly, I want my friends to know that I don't care what you believe as long as YOU believe it and not because someone else told you to believe it.
OUT
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3 comments:
AMEN MY BROTHA!!!=)
I agree with a lot of this. I was lucky enough to be raised by someone like my mom who allowed me to help mold my own beliefs and not feel wrong for doing so. I'd like to raise my kids the same way: give them a good foundation to start from, but help them stay open-minded to possibility. Some might even argue that a faith never questioned isn't really a very strong faith at all, anyway.
Thats what im talkin about.
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