I think there is faith in respect. When I think about what Jesus actually did for us–– Him becoming human just to save us, and all He went through to accomplish that––well, it almost breaks my mind. Respect turns to wonder.
I’ve settled down, too. I’ve had my own problems with God (and His church), but it was never about His existence because He proved His reality to me pretty strongly at a young age. The controversies I had with Him were more personal, issues between me and Him that involved things like yelling and accusations. I know, the foolishness of contending with God, but the Bible is filled with stories about imperfect people doing just that and even getting blessed in the end, so I don’t think it’s far removed from the realm of faith, which I view as based on relationship more than anything else.
In any case, religious treadmills never helped me resolve anything. It was God, who wouldn’t let me go. (Romans 9:16––So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.) A lot of my problems came from what I had been taught to believe about the way things worked, and when I finally saw the truth, I had to cast aside the notion that the New Covenant worked like the Law of Moses. It’s pretty clear in Jeremiah 31:31-34 that it doesn’t. It mirrors the faith of Abraham, not the national covenant God made with Abraham's descendants.
Trying to retrofit the effort-dependent operation of Jewish religious law (for the purpose of becoming righteous before God) into a covenant system that works exclusively by grace (that bestows righteousness on the one who believes Jesus) is the very thing that has rendered many denominational groups and even many non-affiliated swing-from-the-rafters type churches lifeless and loveless. That religious hybrid can look pretty good on the outside, whatever its form, but it’s simply not the truth, and I think it's a big part of what’s messing people up in the church(es).
You have “respect” for JC? Is that what you’re saying? Imagine meeting your Creator and saying, “I respect you for creating me.” Lose the EGO.
Now you're just searching for ways to put my story down.
Jesus stood up to the Roman empire and the priests of his time. He even went so far as to die on the cross.
Why would I not respect that?
I’m not the one denying His name.
How am I "denying" his name?
Even Pontius Pilot knew His name.
I think there is faith in respect. When I think about what Jesus actually did for us–– Him becoming human just to save us, and all He went through to accomplish that––well, it almost breaks my mind. Respect turns to wonder.
I’ve settled down, too. I’ve had my own problems with God (and His church), but it was never about His existence because He proved His reality to me pretty strongly at a young age. The controversies I had with Him were more personal, issues between me and Him that involved things like yelling and accusations. I know, the foolishness of contending with God, but the Bible is filled with stories about imperfect people doing just that and even getting blessed in the end, so I don’t think it’s far removed from the realm of faith, which I view as based on relationship more than anything else.
In any case, religious treadmills never helped me resolve anything. It was God, who wouldn’t let me go. (Romans 9:16––So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.) A lot of my problems came from what I had been taught to believe about the way things worked, and when I finally saw the truth, I had to cast aside the notion that the New Covenant worked like the Law of Moses. It’s pretty clear in Jeremiah 31:31-34 that it doesn’t. It mirrors the faith of Abraham, not the national covenant God made with Abraham's descendants.
Trying to retrofit the effort-dependent operation of Jewish religious law (for the purpose of becoming righteous before God) into a covenant system that works exclusively by grace (that bestows righteousness on the one who believes Jesus) is the very thing that has rendered many denominational groups and even many non-affiliated swing-from-the-rafters type churches lifeless and loveless. That religious hybrid can look pretty good on the outside, whatever its form, but it’s simply not the truth, and I think it's a big part of what’s messing people up in the church(es).