Month: July 2016

If I ask God to do something, and He doesn’t do it, I say, “Well, He must not exist.”

If I ask for God to do something, and He does it, I say, “That would have happened anyway.”

So exactly how is He supposed to reach me?  What can He do?

God will allow the natural pain of my own choices to drive me to another choice.

But I numb the pain with alcohol.

I am distracted from the pain with sex.

I blame others for the pain.

When nothing stops the pain, I see the other choice.

I can blame God for the natural pain of my own choices.

Or I can ask Him for help.

If I blame Him I am saying He is real, but He is evil.

If I ask Him for help, He will help.

Then I can say, “That would have happened anyway” and I would know I was lying when I said it.

And the pain would begin again.

Or, I can say, “Thank you, my Heavenly Father, you are good and you are real.”

And He will never leave me.

It has been reported that a close city has the most bowling alleys, bars, and churches per capita of any city in the USA.  I don’t know if that is true but I definitely know we have a lot of churches.  We have a lot of Christians here, people who know Jesus personally and follow him daily.  What I am concerned about is those who say they are Christians, but don’t follow Jesus.  They are driving away people who might otherwise come to know Jesus.  Let me explain.

There are Christians who pray at an abortion clinic.  They convey the unconditional love and acceptance of Jesus to the many times scared, vulnerable women who are dealing with the most important and difficult decision they may ever make.  But recently another kind of “christian” has been found outside the abortion clinic.  I have heard a first-hand account of someone being yelled at, being told they are going to hell, insulted, etc. while going into the clinic.  They were not pregnant, not considering an abortion, but nonetheless traumatized by the hatred of “christians.”

When I heard this from her I apologized for the people using the Name of Christ as they acted contrary to the Will of Christ.  We agreed that Jesus would not have acted that way.  She is not a Christian however she understands Jesus far better than his supposed “followers.”  She has said she hates Christians and I understand why.

There is a bumper sticker I have seen that I never experientially understood until now.  It read, “Dear Jesus, please save me from your followers.”

Jesus anticipated this.  He said a tree is known by its fruit.  A good tree does not produce bad fruit, and a bad tree does not produce good fruit.  You will know them by their fruit.  These “christians” are producing bad fruit and Jesus says they are not his representatives.  He doesn’t know them.

If you are investigating Jesus, remember, anyone can call themselves a Christian.  Real Christians aren’t perfect and they will tell you they are not perfect.  But you should be able to sense the kindness and humility of Jesus from them; not a spirit of self-righteous condemnation.