Forgiveness is a large part of Christianity - without Jesus taking the Big One for the team, we would not be forgiven of our sins. Only through forgiveness can we enter His Kingdom - and that means receiving it as well as giving it.
Forgiveness is right there in the Lord's Prayer. What to do, how to do it, and why to do it. I won't beat that point into the ground - I doubt I can top Jesus as far as explanations go.
The forgiveness that isn't discussed as often is the forgiveness we received from God through Jesus - at least not in proportion to how important it is. God's grace is the only way we get to Heaven. None of us deserve it, none of us ever have. None of us have earned it, none of us ever can. It is given to us and we must accept it by accepting Jesus as our Savior.
Sounds simple? It is. He had to keep it simple - we meat puppets tend to be self-absorbed morons.
This forgiveness lasts forever - as long as we continue to proclaim the Lord as our Savior - even after committing 10,000 post-baptism sins. One thing some of us need to be reminded, however, is that this does not give us carte blanche to sin all willy-nilly.
We still need to represent - to live a life that Jesus can at least smirk about if not smile. Don't go jumping naked onto a pile of hookers and think "Doesn't matter, had Christ!" It matters.
Christ's forgiveness is kind of like Scotch-gard for sins - as long as we catch them and clean them up in time (namely repent), we'll stay clean no matter how many spills we have... but don't soak or steep in that sin or the stain on your soul will set.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Post #3 - Guilt
Guilt is bullshit.
You've already been forgiven by the only One who really matters, so apologize to anyone you may have wronged and move on.
You've got some Work to do. We all do.
You've already been forgiven by the only One who really matters, so apologize to anyone you may have wronged and move on.
You've got some Work to do. We all do.
Post #2 - Sin
For the purposes of this blog, my rough definition of "sin" is "a thought, word, deed, action, or inaction which puts one's own agenda ahead of God's plan". Pretty broad and esoteric stuff, but that happens alot when God is involved.
We all have sinned. We all are sinning right now. We will all continue to sin. We can't help it - we're all broken, fallen creatures and life in this world is about 85% sin by volume.
(Fortunately, Jesus took care of that for us through forgiveness and grace and the whole cross deal, but that's pretty well documented - this post is about sin itself.)
There are sins of commission and there are sins of omission. There are active sins and passive sins, external sins and internal sins, sins of word and sins of deed... there are just a screaming buttload of sins. Odds are if you think you aren't sinning, you're deceiving yourself, which is itself a sin. Deal with it.
We cannot stop sinning - all we can do is make conscious efforts to curb it. Keep not doing the obvious dumb stuff like killing hobos or mounting your spouse's cute relatives at Thanksgiving dinner. Put thought before action in situations like giving the single-finger greeting to the gentleman that cut you off on the freeway or justifying doing things that you condemn others for doing.
With practice, it gets easier to avoid most of the preventable sins. You'll notice a change in yourself - less anger, less resentment, more peace, more understanding and more gratitude. So, yes, there actually can be some earthly payoff as well as an eternal one to this whole Christian thing.
Of course, you'll also notice a whole other layer of sins you've been committing pretty much subconsciously your whole life that you need to work on. I didn't say it was going to be easy - just better.
We all have sinned. We all are sinning right now. We will all continue to sin. We can't help it - we're all broken, fallen creatures and life in this world is about 85% sin by volume.
(Fortunately, Jesus took care of that for us through forgiveness and grace and the whole cross deal, but that's pretty well documented - this post is about sin itself.)
There are sins of commission and there are sins of omission. There are active sins and passive sins, external sins and internal sins, sins of word and sins of deed... there are just a screaming buttload of sins. Odds are if you think you aren't sinning, you're deceiving yourself, which is itself a sin. Deal with it.
We cannot stop sinning - all we can do is make conscious efforts to curb it. Keep not doing the obvious dumb stuff like killing hobos or mounting your spouse's cute relatives at Thanksgiving dinner. Put thought before action in situations like giving the single-finger greeting to the gentleman that cut you off on the freeway or justifying doing things that you condemn others for doing.
With practice, it gets easier to avoid most of the preventable sins. You'll notice a change in yourself - less anger, less resentment, more peace, more understanding and more gratitude. So, yes, there actually can be some earthly payoff as well as an eternal one to this whole Christian thing.
Of course, you'll also notice a whole other layer of sins you've been committing pretty much subconsciously your whole life that you need to work on. I didn't say it was going to be easy - just better.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Post #1 - What to expect
Expect me to sound like me, only talking about Jesus instead of football or wine and stuff.
Expect various topics to be addressed as I get to it and/or feel compelled to get to it.
Expect the occasional PG-13 or R-rated paragraph - sometimes it's the only way to get a point across.
Do not expect me to quote directly from Scripture. Reading and knowing the Bible is absolutely essential to complete faith - and I do study the Bible - but I have no interest in accidentally taking verses out of context to make a point intentionally or unintentionally.
Expect me to adhere to the three rules that guide my faith: (1) Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit; (2) Always strive to glorify God through living your life; and (3) I'm going to stumble and fall in my walk with the Lord, but I am also going to get back to my feet and try to catch up to Him.
Expect various topics to be addressed as I get to it and/or feel compelled to get to it.
Expect the occasional PG-13 or R-rated paragraph - sometimes it's the only way to get a point across.
Do not expect me to quote directly from Scripture. Reading and knowing the Bible is absolutely essential to complete faith - and I do study the Bible - but I have no interest in accidentally taking verses out of context to make a point intentionally or unintentionally.
Expect me to adhere to the three rules that guide my faith: (1) Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit; (2) Always strive to glorify God through living your life; and (3) I'm going to stumble and fall in my walk with the Lord, but I am also going to get back to my feet and try to catch up to Him.
Post #0 - The point of this blog
A few years ago, I came back to the Lord after a couple-odd decades shunning Him and making light of His believers. Jesus doesn't make mistakes, so there must be some reason he hasn't let me slip off the edge of mortality - no matter how many times my behavior may have merited a holy butterfingers moment.
The easiest and quickest answer would be the most common people hear from Christians - because we are all within His grace, and I finally put my ludicrous and unmerited sense of pride aside to ask for it. Therefore I have become a part of The Great Commission - to bring as many people to the Lord as I possibly can.
Those who know me know that I am quite the sarcastic wise-cracking joker who is no stranger to the whole dictionary, as someone who has screwed up more than a power drill installing drywall ceilings, etc. All is true - past, present, and very likely future. The good part is that Jesus has a history of appointing such human dregs to further His message.
My deep, rich history of sin, cynicism, and worldly proclivities actually makes me a much more effective ambassador for many of the people He's trying to reach than the popular image of a pious priestly-type. I speak the language, I know the temptations, I have fallen in the same pits and very likely will again. I - in short - am a dumbass. But I'm Jesus's dumbass now - and maybe some of you dumbasses will want to join me.
The easiest and quickest answer would be the most common people hear from Christians - because we are all within His grace, and I finally put my ludicrous and unmerited sense of pride aside to ask for it. Therefore I have become a part of The Great Commission - to bring as many people to the Lord as I possibly can.
Those who know me know that I am quite the sarcastic wise-cracking joker who is no stranger to the whole dictionary, as someone who has screwed up more than a power drill installing drywall ceilings, etc. All is true - past, present, and very likely future. The good part is that Jesus has a history of appointing such human dregs to further His message.
My deep, rich history of sin, cynicism, and worldly proclivities actually makes me a much more effective ambassador for many of the people He's trying to reach than the popular image of a pious priestly-type. I speak the language, I know the temptations, I have fallen in the same pits and very likely will again. I - in short - am a dumbass. But I'm Jesus's dumbass now - and maybe some of you dumbasses will want to join me.
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