More Ranting and Raving

So what else makes me a heretic? Well besides believing that people can choose to give up their salvation, I also believe in a God who continues to work through people in miraculous ways. It bothers me to think that some people think that because we have the Bible, that there is no more need for the miraculous. Without a God who works miracles in and through people, Christianity is just a historical philosophy. I believe in a world that is beyond our understanding and a realm that is beyond our ability to measure. I am not a Humanist. I am not a deist, I am someone who believes that apart from God, humans can do little good. If fact if left to themselves and their own devices they can be down right evil. Why??? I think humans can be so evil, because they begin to believe in their own rightness. Oh they may try to cover their antics with religious jargon and invoke the name of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, but the truth be know their efforts will be seen in their actions. I don’t care if your talking about the Christian Crusades, Hitler, or Jim Jones, the proof is in the fruit. What sort of fruit do you see in their lives. The only fruit that counts is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Anything else is from the devil himself. But what about righteous anger? According the Epistle of James (1:19,20) The anger of man does not accomplish the will of God. So what else do I think about Christians… I think it is okay for Christians to be oppressed but never okay for Christians to oppress others. God’s objective for Christians is not to be comfortable in the life they have, but to strive to make their lives worthy of emulation. I think there are a lot of people who think they are Christians, but are not. They have been sold a bill of goods. “Oh just say this prayer and it will be all good.” Sorry but God expects more. Not perfect performance from the onset, but rather a heart that wants to find out how to live a godly life. In order to choose God, through Christ, we have to reject things that we used to believe in. We have to be willing to subject our lives to critical examination by God’s Holy Spirit and by other believers. A Christian’s life is not his or her own, it now belongs to God and to the family of faith. Scary thought, but that’s the way it is. It’s a journey, but its so worth it…

So what else can I rant about…. I sorry but you’ll just have to wait until the next issue