Church

WARNING: If you don't want to be offended by someone expressing their personal religious beliefs and can not maintain an open mind and open heart and are bent on maintaining  a judgemental attitude please stop reading now! This blog is meant as a personal statement of where I see myself religiously and is in no way an attempt to proselytize or change your religious views. THESE ARE MINE ALONE!

I think I have quite a range of religious perspectives.

I grew up with a pentecostal background and my first church experience was non-denominational. My family then transitioned to Holiness Baptist then Assembly of God. Once I moved away to college I joined the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) movement which most closely aligned with my denominational upbringing. While in College I visited several other denominations: Catholic, Charismatic Non-Denominational, Southern Baptist, Methodist, Orthodox and a whole host of others thrown in. Some of my best friends in grad school were Agnostic and I had quite a few conversations with folks of Muslim, Jew and Buddhist faiths as well. With my most recent move my family and I have chosen a church that has a non-denominational feel but is technically a Southern Baptist church.

I consider myself a pretty well rounded person with my varied religious experiences. I also had the distinct pleasure of taking Sociology of Religion in Grad School which was such an amazing class by Dr. Lowney at VSU. I highly recommend this class. I felt the need to give this information above so I feeled qualified to make the statements and comments below.

My religious beliefs have changed over the past 40 years. I believe that is a natural progression. I could point to many biblical figures that changed their religious beliefs through their life and several of the 12 apostles changed their views of the world based on their experiences. It is ironic that in our modern world there is such rigidity in religion. Since I have had the pleasure of being a part of several denominations I have found that in each the path to heaven seems to be rigidly within the confines of their belief system. You have to be X or Y and have to do A and B to get the golden ticket to heaven.  While many have similar tenants of faith and by my small opinion are not very different, in their view the chasm is far to wide to allow members of one group to cross to the bliss of the fold of another. Doctrinally denominations have made salvation such an unattainable option that many have chosen to completely leave religion and God completely.

Church may be the hospital for the hurting but often church members are carrying around the baton and hitting each other. I have had several conversations with individuals from across the country in my travels with my job and religion comes up quite frequently and I hear the myriad of stories of hurt, dispondicy, pain and maltreatment that many people have endured under the auspices of religious politics or misguided 'help'. What's sad is many of these people that have committed these acts have done so with the belief that what they are doing is 'right' and 'just'.

The older I get the more I realize the name on the door means nothing if the heart of the people are not filled with compassion and love. Showing the love of Christ goes much further than battering someone with 'love'. We forget that we are to give Grace before Judgement. I have had the pleasure to sit under some great men of God as pastors and they have shaped my view of church. I have also had the displeasure to sit under some pastors that were bent on the 'just like me' mentality that everyone in heaven will be carbon copies of themselves or exiles were hell bound. I don't think every person in Heaven will be from the same denomination. My version of heaven is filled with folks that are different than me and I am sure there will be those that I will be surprised to see.

I know as a personal core belief that there is a God. My Godhead is made of three individuals (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). I believe that the Bible was inspired by God and is my holy document. I believe I was born with a sin nature and was in need of salvation. I believe in salvation through Jesus Christ and the continual spiritual growth called Sanctification through the Holy Spirit. I believe in Heaven and Hell. I believe in the gifts of the spirit and the active use of them within the body of Christ. I believe that Jesus came to earth via a virgin birth and lived as a human and died on a cross and three days later he rose from death and now is seated on the right side of God making intercession for us. I believe that Jesus will return to earth (rapture) to take away ALL those that have believed in him and have accepted him as saviour. I believe in the various items that are prophetic in Revelations. These are my tenants of faith. Everything else is added. Clothing selection, hair length, media choice, etc. are added. Using a measuring stick as a scale of religious value does not interest me.

When I go to a church these are the unquestionable things that I look for. I don't condemn others for their value system. I don't expect them to agree with my value system. This is who I am. Who you are is not for me to decide. If you give me an invitation to discuss my values I expect the courtesy of respect and I will give the same. Personal evaluation should be a standard practice for spiritual growth. It's easy to say 'be like me'. It's difficult to say 'I believe this way because...'.

Find your because!

jamie