My soapbox Tuesday, Mar 3 2009

I admit that I am not the most faithful of bloggers.   I have been doing a Blog Talk Radio hour with my atheist brother-in-law.  I have had a blast.  There are many times that our show has made me stop and think about where I stand as a Christian and why.  It is most embarrassing however, the many times that I have walked away and thought to myself and wondered if I made an impacting impression on our listeners.  You see, not only am I a Christian, but I am also a preacher.  So, yes I do wonder about the salvation of our listeners and where they stand.  My hope is that they will find God.  My hope is that I will in some way or another just let them know that not all Christians are gun totting conservatives that are dogmatic and over bearing.  My take on things is really pretty simple.  I look at Christianity in the simplest of meanings.  In short, that salvation is my relationship with God through Jesus Christ and his teachings.  That he is, “the way, the truth, and the life”.  So, yes, I wonder how I relate this understanding to the listeners.  Am I making an impact for the greater good?  Am I truly living the right, and showing them that God loves them?  I pause for a moment and reflect on these questions, because I must tell them that God does love them.  If nothing else, that I at least point out that the simplest of Gods message is to love him with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself.  It is that simple.  I like simple.  I am angered at how much the “Church” has disallusioned the majority and that people now turn a deaf ear to our message because we have messed up.  We have built kingdoms exalting mega churches and put man as idles before God.  We have lost the heart of the message of the Gospel and we have made religion a must rather than relationship.  We have become a religious institution that puts man first and mans agendas rather than searching the heart of God.  My message?  My soap box? Make it simple again.  Get off the mega mentality of pretty buildings and pretty people and the prosperity of the worlds lure.  Get back to the alters and the foot of the cross and preach the truth!  What is the truth?  LOVE.  God is LOVE.  He is not cathedrals towering above city skylines, and bells tolling a sounding echo.  God is the loving creator that calls his children home.  He is the message of love that says we have forgiveness of sins and that we can always return home.  I can continue this agitated rampage of getting back to the hear t of the matter, but I leave on this note.  God is love.  God is forgiving.  God is.  It is that simple.  And please pardon the onslaught of greedy hands that try to rape you spiritually.  I am a Christian.  I love you.  And no, we are not all money hungry, thieving persona’s of entertainers that leave you empty.  There are some of us that do follow God, live the life, and live our best to help our brothers and sisters along the way…

So…for a love gift of 50 dollars you can get this loving tyraid and be on your way to heaven….

Leave a Response »

 

Affective vs. Effective Monday, Dec 29 2008

I was thinking the other day, what does it mean to be an effective Christian witness? Think for a moment that within these two words there is a canyon division that differentiates the very core meaning of these two words.  Let us examine for a moment that by affectively sharing ones beliefs to another can be an intrusive task that in relation to its meaning is that of attacking a non-willing host, i.g., to be affected by.  Who wants to be intruded upon? Who wants to be an unwilling participant in someones dogma? But let us examine the word effective.  What does it mean to be effective? My brother-in-law shared with me a video clip of Penn, from Penn and Teller, in which Penn was witnessed to by a believer.  Penn, a devote atheist, later states of the man as being a “good” man.  Albeit, Penn was not then converted, but the encounter with this good man made him later state that, “…How much do you have to hate someone not to tell them of pending doom…” (this is paraphrasing). But it had me think.  This encounter with this man had somehow marked Penn’s life so, that he remembered the meaning of what this man was trying to tell him.  If this man had taken the extreme and told Penn of how wrong he was, by judging him, how effective would it hav been?  It wouldn’t. It would be the affect of judment and not the love that God wants us as believers to tell others about.  It is the resounding echo of convition in my life, I want to be effecive.  Regardless of what people think of me, regardless of the path they so choose, I want to be effective in telling them that, although I may not have all the answers, I do know without a shadow of doubt, that there is a better way.  There is a God. There is a God of Love.  So, with this demand, to all my fellow Christians, let us be effective in our witnessing.  Show people love.  Show them God.  Let the actions of your encounter with others be so effective that they will later remember you as a light to whatever darkness my be lurking.

Leave a Response »