Simply Christian

I'm a sinner, had I faced death earlier, I might had had to greet hell: I'm no saint, if you have read this blog before, you know I've struggled with much in my life, I have always thought of myself as a "good enough Christian" but good enough according to who? well, not according to the bible, nor according to Jesus, according to myself.  It is dangerous to do just that, I know , been there & done than. However, what led me into such place? well, Not lack of mere faith, lack of commitment I'd say. You see, its true that Faith alone saves (well, as I interpret the bible at least, and this being the most congruent idea with Jesus' sacrifice, I'll later explain), but its not mere "I believe in Jesus" type of faith, Jesus himself said it best in Matthew 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. (22) On that say many will...

"Jesus aint for me, you know, I dont want more rules to follow" Or "Jesus aint for me, I like drinking", "I sleep around", "I'm a lair", "I've had an abortion" or "I'm Gay! God cant love me!". This are some of the "rebuttals" some people use, or think, in order to excuse themselves for not following Jesus; sometimes, they really think that being this things actually bar them from becoming Christian. I've even heard the "You know, I cant be a christian, I love gays way too much". To be honest, this is utter nonsense. If you are broken, a sinner, doesnt matter the type of life you got, Jesus can, will, and does love you and is eager for you to follow him. Now here comes the issue, many of us have felt that because we are too broken, God cant use us, that we ought to resign ourselves to a life of earthly living because we are not "good enough" to follow Jesus, when actually, Jesus did...

Imagine yourself living in the days of Moses, you're living your life, following this guy that drove you out of slavery, and you have seen God's hand at work. You crossed a parted sea which closed behind you, you have seen bread appear from nothing, and water pour from a dry rock. You have no doubt, God's with your people. So now this prophet goes to mount Sinai, you hear thunder and rain, days passes and no one hears from this guy... food starts lacking, so does water, so you and everyone around pulls together and does what you have learned in Egypt, you make a statue for a God, and you worship it in order to see if you can ease the situation, The God of Abraham,The great I AM seems to have left your side. Here comes Moses! he finally comes back, he's angry, he's angry at the idol, he tells you that you should have trusted the God of Israel, this so called YHWH. Years pass, your whole society has been restructured, each year, the priests, those that live closer to...

I wake up at 6:05 each morning to get ready for university and I leave my house at 7. At 6:15 I'm half asleep, with my eyes barely open, 6:20 I'm in the shower. By 6:40 I'm showered and dressed. At this moment, more or less I go to my room, kneel down facing the cross which is in the center of the back wall of my room, put my elbows againt my bed which is next to that wall and I pray, Its way more than a simple habit or something I need to check off my list. It is part of my daily routine, but not like shaving (which its something that I dont enjoy doing, yet I do), I do it because I love to do it. Unlike waking up at 6ish in the morning, starting my day with a prayer is a great thing and it always ends up in a smile in my face. I hear you saying "Alright, so, whats the point about telling me how you pray every single day? good for you bro, but I dont think its necessary". The point here is a simple thing, I live my life for Jesus, thanks to Jesus and with Jesu...

Back in this topic... Why did I felt necessary to tell that little... well maybe longish story about me? This is because that story perfectly illustrates  not only today's and yesterday's topic, but it also shows what I was talking about in my " The importance of community " Post. This is how a, at the beginning, devout christian (although an immature one), through loosing that community which is so important for all of us, allowed himself to be pulled into sin, little by little, sin by sin. Now, one thing that I failed to mention in my community post is, that community serves also a checks and balances role in the christian's life. If you feel something is good, but then you're called out by fellow Christians, you'll be able to correct your behavior. However, if you were to do the same sinful thing, but you dont have a christian community to call you out, you might not realize its a sin, or that its simply pulling you away from our Lord Jesus Christ. Thi...