Not just another holiday

Okay, in the last post I deliberately kept things short and sweet, but I'll probably be back to my old ways this time around.  I have some more thoughts about the significance of this Easter season that have recently struck me, and this time - as usual - I'll use my own words to express them.

I thought this morning about those people who will be working today, not those who basically had to, but those who really didn't need to but did so anyway.  I wondered if any of them will take even a moment to wonder about the significance of this day, Good Friday.  Is it to them some vague holiday like Victoria Day in Canada where no more than a handful of people actually know why it's a holiday?  Will they even think about why some spiritual guy named Jesus died on a cross so long ago?

If they're anything like I used to be, I doubt it.  They're probably thinking about this as nothing more than a great chance to make some holiday overtime pay.  But I so wish that they - and any non-believer just enjoying a 'holiday' - could realize that this Jesus guy they've heard about had each and every one of them individually in mind when he held his tongue in the face of his accusers.  I wish they could understand that Jesus voluntarily gave himself as a sacrifice for our well-being, and that his crucifixion was not some unexpected and tragic end to a promising young spiritual movement.

Jesus was born to die, he was born to pay the penalty of our offenses (sins) against God so that those who accept this gift of Jesus would not have to pay that penalty themselves after their earthly, bodily death.  This has been God's plan since even before our ancestors Adam and Eve destroyed mankind's relationship with God long ago and introduced sin into our world.

Jesus as the one and only Son of the one and only God chose to give up his exalted position for a period of 33 years by living as one of us.  He chose to be born in poor, filthy conditions to everyday people instead of people of power and prestige.  He chose to live a humble existence in full dependence upon his Father who remained in Heaven, humbling himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

But why would he die for us?  Who are we that he would die for us?  How could he known those of us who weren't even born at the time?  Suffice it to say that the Bible mentions how God knew each of us before the foundation of time, and that he numbered the hairs on each of our heads.  It also mentions in various parts of the New Testament Gospel letters how Jesus and God the Father are one in essence and nature, so therefore what God knows, Jesus knows.

Each and every one of us is so infinitely precious and important to him that sadly only a tiny portion of humanity - only those who've accepted the gift of salvation that Jesus offers, i.e. Christians - will ever have some idea of this before they meet God face-to-face in order to give an account of their lives to him on the appointed day.

God is independent of time.  He existed before it was even created, and thus time does not control him like it controls his creation.  Thus he, being all-knowing and in all control of everything, knew about the very second and the very circumstances of everything to do with when each and every one of us would be born.  He knew whether he was going to give us to rich or poor parents, loving or abusive parents, or to biological or foster or adoptive parents, and whether we would be born in a time of peace or a time of war.  And he did each of these things not because he was showing favoritism to some or being cruel to others, but for his own good purposes (not necessarily ours!) that we will only fully understand once we all - believer and non - meet him face-to-face - the great inevitability of human existence.

Some of you might have shaken your fist at God about your lot in life ever since you were old enough to do so.  You curse the day you were born and how a God of "love" could have been so cruel as to let you suffer so much - let alone be born - in the first place.

Yet I have heard more than a few stories of people - and met some - who suffered unspeakable horrors, sometimes for decades on end, but eventually realized the hand of God's protection and provision and comfort during those times.  They decided to no longer shake the fist, realizing that they would have been even worse off if he hadn't been with them during those times!

They realized those times were not so much for building character as for them to realize their desperate need of God in their lives.  So they opened their hearts to allow God to work in their lives, which inevitably lead them to a knowledge of what Jesus' life, death, and resurrection were really all about.  Then they learned about how accepting Jesus into their lives was going to set them free spiritually in this life and beyond even though they might remain in bondage in the here and now:  physical, financial, abusive, etc.

And these things are what God wants you to realize at this special time of year, this Easter season.  He wants you to realize that your life and circumstances are not a mistake, but that they are meant to show your weaknesses in order that you allow him to make you strong.  He wants you to realize that in your own strength you will eventually break or fail, if not on this side of eternity then on the Day of Judgment when you have to explain your life to this Creator of yours that you spent so much time and energy trying to avoid and/or deny down on Earth.

Will you finally accept that the whole plan of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in order for you to be set free was done with you in mind?  That this plan wasn't reserved for those who show up in church on most Sundays, or give to a church, or belong to a denomination or religion, or live good, moral lives?  That this plan wasn't reserved for those who seem as though they have it all together or all figured out?  This plan was intended for those who realize they need the forgiveness and healing that only God through Jesus Christ alone - and no other person or religious system or amount of money - can offer (read Luke 5:30-32).

This is not only the message of this Easter season, but it's been the message of the Gospel for over two-thousand years, the good news about Jesus Christ and what he has done for you already and what he will do for you if you would simply ask for his forgiveness and then let him into your life.

What "religion" are you?

Several times in my life I've had to fill out forms - on paper or online - that ask me what "religion" I am.  I can't help but be tempted to write "Non-religious Christian" because I can't stand the concept of religion nor do I practice a religion.

Now how's that for a contradiction in terms!  How can one possibly claim to be a Christian yet also non-religious?  Isn't Christianity a "religion", and therefore to be a Christian means you're "religious?"  'How blasphemous', you might be thinking.  Or is it?

There's a reason why it's called the "Christian faith", because a religion and a faith are two entirely different things.  People who have not put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them wrongly call it a "religion" because they have a false understanding of who God is and how people are supposed to relate to Him.  However, people who have put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them - Christians - rightly call it a "faith".  They have realized that the salvation given to them through this faith is the "gift of God", that it can't be earned by anything you do (Ephesians 2:8-10).  Thus, they have been invited and accepted into a relationship - not a religion - with the one true God through Jesus Christ and Him alone.

I've come to realize that a religion is a man-made system designed to try to please their god (or gods).  It's full of rules and regulations and ordinances, most of which have no origin in the Bible.  It's also not a very fun system to try to follow, because failure to live up to its standards is constant and therefore it's a great cause of demoralization.  All too often, there is a push to get other people "converted" in a vain attempt to please or appease their god(s) and thus feel more important and better about themselves. 

Sadly, many denominations and movements claiming to be Christian are in fact religions far removed from what God intended Christianity to be.  They go by different names:  Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and so forth.  Then there are the cultic movements, like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons (Latter Day Saints).  God did not invent denominations or movements; rather, He intended Christianity to be a way to personally relate to Him through Jesus Christ and Him alone - no human intervention required.  However, people unwilling to accept His grace extended through Jesus Christ thought they knew better, and viola - the birth of modern religion.

Unfortunately, a lot of the atheism and agnosticism in this world today stem from those who have felt the pressure to convert to a particular religion.  These mindsets are compounded when these people witness the failure of religious followers to live up to religious standards, such as practicing what they preach.  And when these religious followers fail (not if, but when), they assume - or are told by their religious leaders - that their god(s) will fail to love them.

How the Bible paints a different picture!  If only these people would look past man-made religion and instead to the Bible where they can be told not only of the reality of the one true God, but also His amazing love for them, available without a single religious act on their part!

Here's what the Bible has to say about the Christian faith:

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling; one Lord [that is, Jesus], one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all."  (Ephesians 4:4-5)

What this passage implies is that the "one" Christian faith is therefore the only faith that exists.  It is one of those passages that is very exclusive, the kind that annoys and even greatly angers those outside the Christian faith.  In other words, it implies that there is no Muslim "faith", or Buddhist "faith", or Hindu "faith" and so on.  In reality, these are all religions:  the "one God" is revealed only in the Bible and in no other bodies of scripture, and therefore they are all worshipping false gods.  Also, they all have strict, man-made standards that have created a schizophrenic god or gods who can snap and go crazy on their followers at any moment and, worst of all, deny them passage to eternal paradise.

The appeal of Christianity is so much greater:

"Come to Me [Jesus], all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  (Matthew 11:28, emphasis added)

"Everyone the Father [God] gives Me [Jesus] will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out." (John 6:37, emphasis added)

"... [God] is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, emphasis added)

"For God loved the world in this way:  He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, emphasis added)

"For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works [religious effort] so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, emphasis added)

I don't know about you, but I much prefer the "one" true faith that accepts everyone - people of all races and colors and, yes, all religious backgrounds - and doesn't require us to be cleaned up and perfect before approaching the "one" true God and humbly and sincerely asking for His mercy to forgive and cleanse and save us.  How about you?

The gullible ones

(This post is not intended to make fun of or insult non-believers; it has not been written in a sarcastic tone.  Rather, some observations will be made about how they view believers in God in order to set the stage for my main points later on.  So if you're a non-believer, please note this and maintain an open mind as you read this post.)

Non-believers make some pretty interesting assumptions about believers in God, one of them being that only gullible people would put their faith in some unseen entity and give it a title like "God".  It's as though a non-believer making such an assumption thinks that some Bible-thumping preacher did some 'ooga booga' sort of brain-washing speech that caused people to believe in and follow God like blind, mindless robots.  They assume the believer left their brain at the door and are now under the control not of an infinite Creator, but rather a figment of their imagination that allows those preaching the message of this God to exploit believers for the sake of mind control and financial gain.  (Lest non-believers think that they are not under such exploitation themselves from non-spiritual interests, I'll tactfully discuss the blindness of non-believers later on.)

What I also find interesting is how non-believers will never sincerely ask just how such people came to believe in God for fear that the message they hear might cause them to get "sucked in" themselves.  To avoid this possibility, they instead stand at arm's length and make assumptions about this God and those who are his followers.  Unfortunately, their assumptions are made with an air - even an arrogance - of authority, as though they could possibly know more about God than those who actually follow and claim to have an intimate personal relationship with him.  This is no more outlandish than someone assuming that a complete stranger to you and your friend knows more about your friend than you do.  And what's worse is how the masses of non-believers will buy into these assumptions rather than, as mentioned above, objectively asking the believer about what brought them to faith.

In other words, non-believers accuse believers of gullibility, but aren't they ultimately the more gullible?  They are basing their beliefs about God upon false information borne out of a lack of experience and relationship with him.  They haven't walked both sides of the "spiritual fence", so to speak, like a believer has, yet they talk as though they know what being a believer is all about, as though they've 'been there and done that', spiritually speaking.

I have also noticed how nearly everything a non-believer mentions about a believer is negative.  Countless believers throughout history have given testimony of the power of God to heal broken lives, bodies, and relationships - in many cases baffling the intellectual powers of their day (read the book of Romans, chapter 1, in particular verse 22) - and yet the non-believers have constantly tried to find human or tangible explanations for these miracles.  The idea of an unseen entity, mysterious and more powerful than them, is scary because they cannot explain or control it, so they do their best to try to discredit it.  Because God can't fit into their "box" of understanding, in their minds he therefore must and should not be for real.  They want control because they think being under the control of the one who created them is somehow a bad thing.

They also only see man's religious attempts to please God, the "he loves me, he loves me not" sort who think they're believers, and blind themselves (or are blinded?) to those who enjoy the non-religious relationship of grace through Jesus Christ that God originally intended for everyone, the one which only becomes real to those who want and accept this relationship (these are the true, "saved" believers who have put their faith in Jesus Christ).  Therefore, in the eyes of non-believers, nothing good can come out of believing in God despite testimonies of true believers that indicate otherwise because all they see (rather, want to see) is the pious, holier-than-thou, religious attempts at living up to a system of man-made do's-and-don'ts and the hypocrisy of failure when they don't live up to it.

(If you're a non-believer and anything I've written so far is offensive or questionable to you because you've assumed I've just pulled these thoughts out of mid-air, don't take it personally.  I haven't invented these notions of how non-believers view believers in God; I've simply tried to state the mindset I had while I was a non-believer for the first 22 years of my life.  Your mindset may differ from my old one on a few specific points, but overall your view of God and his followers is probably not much different, but I digress ...)

If I've seemed surprised at how non-believers make assumptions and accusations about believers and seem to be blinded to the truth of who God really is, I'm actually not.  It doesn't surprise me in the least because I was once a blinded assumer and accuser myself.  I was deceived into thinking that I was under nobody's control - man's or otherwise - when in reality I was under the total and absolute control of the enemy of God who wants nothing more than for all humans to believe that he and God do not exist.

This enemy, who goes by the name of Satan or the title of "Devil", does everything possible to keep full control over us without us even knowing it.  Why would he want such control?  Because he wants to drag us along with him into the eternal punishment and torment that he knows he has earned through his rebellion toward God.  Why does he not want non-believers to know that he exists and controls them?  Because he wants them to live under the illusion that they are in control.  Then they won't resist when he leads them around like puppets on a string, distracting them and leading them ever further from the message of Jesus.  For if they hear this message and put their faith in Jesus, they will have found the one and only means by which they can forever escape Satan's control and find eternal life rather than endure eternal punishment and torment.  (Read about Satan's ultimate demise in the book of Revelation, chapter 20.)

Even though Satan tries to keep people from knowing about and believing in Jesus, people unfamiliar with the Bible might be surprised to realize that even Satan and his demonic agents know about and believe in the existence, power, and true identity of Jesus.  Here is one such account:

"In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice, "Leave us alone!  What do You have to do with us, Jesus - Nazarene?   Have You come to destroy us?  I know who You are - the Holy One of God!"" (Luke 4:34)

Jesus also had a lot to say about Satan's control over unbelievers while he was here on earth.  Here is just one passage:

"Why don't you understand what I [Jesus] say?  Because you cannot listen to my word.   You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires.  He ... has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.  Yet because I [Jesus] tell the truth, you do not believe me ... If I tell the truth, why don't you believe me?  [Because] The one who is from God listens to God's words.  This is why you [non-believers] don't listen, because you are not from God." (John 8:43-47)

In other words, the Father of the believer in Jesus Christ is none other than God himself, whereas the father of all non-believers - and non-Christians - is none other than the Devil himself.  So again, non-believers don't understand believers nor do they really want to understand because they are under the controlling lies of Satan - according to this and other Bible passages - who wants them to remain blind to the truth of God, a truth that if accepted means forgiveness and eternal life from God that Satan once had but no longer has.  Satan is like Adolf Hitler at the end of the Second World War, who wanted to drag everyone else down with him instead of signing a peace treaty because he knew his end was near.  He wants as many gullible non-believers as possible to share in the eternal suffering that he knows is awaiting him.

If a non-believer ever gets the nerve to question me about my level of intelligence and/or degree of integrity, and/or accuses me of gullibility because I believe in God - in particular Jesus - I hope I will have the ability to calmly and rationally ask them if they've ever been fully a non-believer AND a believer like I have.  I have the right and the authority to state what I claim to know about God/Jesus because unlike the vast majority of humanity, I've lived fully immersed for several years on both sides of the "spiritual fence".  Any non-believer simply does NOT have any such authority because they cannot speak objectively about what it means to be a believer - they simply haven't walked a mile in my shoes or those of any other believer, so their arguments frankly lack any and all credibility.

Non-believers can make all the assumptions they want about me, but they can never change or take away the account of how I lived when I hated and rejected the notion of God, how this God chose to make himself known to me and begin to change my heart, how I eventually accepted this loving God and his free, no-strings-attached offer of forgiveness and eternal life, and how my life has been all the better ever since.  In other words, non-believers are unfortunately the gullible ones - not believers - and I say unfortunately because their non-belief has them headed straight to a horrific eternity unless they choose, only while still on this side of eternity, to accept the free gift of salvation and the resulting eternal life offered only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Do you need "church"? Part II

I guess I decided to tease you by waiting until this post before giving my thoughts about whether or not you need "church". Actually, I didn't want the first part to be longer than it already is! So here goes.

If you're a willing, open-minded non-believer, going to a four-walled church might be a good way to learn about God as I mentioned in Part I, but provided only that you're in a good environment. It would be better for you at this point to ask God to make Himself known and real to you, then to ask Him if this is the time for you to look for a "good" church (i.e. biblically grounded) - and of course to ask Him to lead you to such a church! God will lead your heart to the right place for you if you open yourself up to Him and trust Him. I'm confident that He wouldn't lead you to a spiritual morgue like the one I was forced to attend as a kid!

If you're a believer, I firmly believe that no matter what kind of perceived or actual experiences or hang-ups you've had at a particular church, you need to first attempt to find and become a part of another one. And I don't mean make that building the center of your faith, but rather the center of your fellowship.

When Christians decide to shy away from other believers, iron can't sharpen iron. Disagreement and debate and even conflict are the root causes of growth, and sitting at home in your bell jar on a Sunday morning makes you a weaker Christian if you aren't at least spending that time in prayer and Bible reading. If you're spending that time shining your car or reading the financial headlines instead, then your relationship with God throughout the week is probably not a priority at any point, either. And the resulting dryness of your spiritual life and therefore life overall - hand-in-hand with your increasing selfishness and desire for worldly things - can come as no surprise.

Also, by shying away, Satan has you right where he wants you. His favorite tactic is to divide and conquer the body of Christ, and he has succeeded marvelously by making countless Christians think they don't need regular fellowship with a body of believers at or through a local church. What often follows is what I alluded to above, and that is substituting fellowship with pursuing worldly things that have left far too many Christians wondering why their lives aren't anywhere near as satisfying as they could be.

Far more often than not, Christians who avoid attending a local church often end up being a Christian by title only, and not by their impact for Christ on the world around them.

However, some Christians who have had truly frustrating if not severely damaging experiences in a four-walled church still need to attempt to seek fellowship. Seeking this in what I call the "true" church, or with other believers in the body of Christ outside of a four-walled church, is better than nothing at all. These believers could start a home Bible study, or they could attend one hosted by someone else. It is often in a small, close-knit environment with other wounded Christians that they can feel open to share what might have gotten them ostracized from a four-walled, or congregational church.

So really, I firmly believe that everyone needs "church", but frankly for a small few believers this may be best achieved outside the large, four-walled congregational kind that has a label attached to it like "Lutheran" or "Anglican" or "Pentecostal" or "Catholic".

What all people ultimately need, however, is to be part of the body of Christ, that church that extends world-wide across all cultures and boundaries. And again, a person becomes a part of this body once they've gotten right with God, which results from asking Jesus to forgive and cleanse them of their sins, which then re-establishes their relationship with God. Such a "saved" person is then known as a Christian.

And whether a person decides to meet with other members of that body in a congregational church with some fancy label or title or simply in someone's living room should result from earnest prayer and waiting for God's answer on the part of a believer. This should not result from peer pressure, but strictly from what one is firmly convinced that God is speaking to them.

My concern is again with those who say they are Christian but who never make the effort to fellowship anywhere with any other Christians, or at least to extend their fellowship beyond, say, their family. Christians MUST make the effort to be willing to trust God by stepping out and fellowshipping in a broader context. Perhaps you need to attend that home Bible study group that your friend or neighbor told you about, or that you read about on a poster or on the internet.

Whatever means you choose to fellowship, you become like a lake that has a stream flowing into it and another flowing out of it. The new experiences you have with different believers is like fresh water flowing in, used by God to bring about cleansing and change in your life, and this forces the selfishness and worldliness away like the stream flowing out.

However, refusing to fellowship at all, or to not extend your fellowship beyond family makes you like a lake with no inlet or outlet stream. There is no freshness in your spiritual life, so after a while the algae and weeds begin to kill your spirit, and the waters of your spiritual life and therefore your life overall eventually stagnate and die.

So the most important question is really not whether or not you need church, but rather whether or not you need fellowship with other people who believe in Jesus. Although I believe the latter is best achieved in a four-walled building, it is obvious throughout the entire body of New Testament scripture - especially in the book of Acts - that regular fellowship in some kind of group setting is crucial.

Otherwise, you are at the mercy of the devil and your spiritual life will stagnate to the point of no longer being effective for Christ. And not being of effect for Christ means that your existence on this planet is essentially a waste.

Do you need "church"? Part I

I have a religious uncle, who, a few years back was lamenting about the moral condition of a non-believing cousin of mine. Knowing that I was a Christian (though not in favor of religion, which is trying to please God through man-made rules and institutions), he felt he could share the frustration on his heart to my cousin while in my presence by lamenting to him, "You really need church!"

When I was a non-believer, the last thing I would have liked to hear from anyone is being told that I needed church! Growing up, I was exposed to a very religious environment where people showed up to this particular church building on Sundays looking as though it was the absolute last place they wanted to be. Then at one point during the service, they would drop a money envelope into a tray that was passed around.

The people, including my parents, seemed to have the idea that if they showed up just often enough and gave just enough money, this would somehow make things right between them and God. No document or teaching - biblical or non - was ever brought up to affirm that these acts would produce this result. In other words, there was no specific percentage of attendance or amount of money revealed that would guarantee that God would love and forgive them. Nevertheless, these spiritually lifeless corpses robotically showed up, sat through each service, and gave their money with about as much passion and excitement as, well, a kid like me being forced to attend a dry, boring, spiritually dead church!

Now, how do you think my cousin would have responded if my uncle had succeeded in convincing him that he needed "church"? Especially if he showed up in a spiritual morgue just like the one I had to attend as a kid? He would have rejected and mocked God for the rest of his life, assuming that believing and following God would drain the life out of him like it did to the people attending that church.

Do non-believers really need "church"? For that matter, do Christians really need "church"?

First of all, to clarify, what exactly is "church"? Well, to the religious person trying to please God based upon his/her own efforts, it's a four-walled building, usually adorned with some impressive steeple and ornate furnishings to try to prove to outsiders just how spiritual they think they are. To the Christian, however, Jesus explains how the church is His "bride", that it is the world-wide body of believers in Jesus of which He and He alone is the Head. So the church, according to what Jesus says in the Bible, is the bride of Christ. He is so committed to His bride that He was willing to lay down His life for her.

So if this is the case, then church in the truest sense is not restricted to a building. Whenever Christians meet to talk about God, or pray to Him, or to worship Him through songs, it can be said that church is 'in session'. It also doesn't matter what time of day it is and what day of the week it is. Where two or more are gathered in Jesus' name, according to the Bible, Jesus says He is (spiritually) there in the midst of them.

With this understanding in mind of what church actually is, unless someone has put their faith in Jesus (asked Him to forgive them of their sins - "save" them - and to become the Lord of their lives), being told that they need "church" isn't the answer to their problems. Jesus is the answer. By accepting Jesus (putting their faith in Him), a person becomes part of the world-wide church or "body" (not building) of believers in Christ, and Jesus alone is their Head - the only One they need to come to with their problems, and not some priest, pastor, or other self-appointed "mediator" between that person and God.

So what's the point of going to church, then? Well, for a willing non-believer who has been invited (not coerced, forced, or dragged) to a non-religious church building who is presented with what the Bible has to say - and not some set of man-made rules and instructions and rituals and doctrines - that person may come to the knowledge that Jesus is the only way that they can get right with God, or "saved" from having to pay the penalty for their sins (their offences against God). Not by following a set of religious practices.

For the believer, the practice of going to church is surprisingly a very strong bone of contention within the body of Christ. I have some relatives whose relationship with their Lord is deeper and more meaningful than most Christians who regularly attend a four-walled church. I have yet other relatives who call themselves Christians - and I believe they are - but make the excuse of not going to church because of some hurt (perceived or actual) in the past in the form of a church experience where people claiming to be Christians acted in ways that indicated otherwise. Or they get too busy trying (in vain) to find happiness by living their lives like non-believers - following their ways and advice - that they no longer have the desire (even though they have the time) to attend the excellent, well-grounded churches in their area.

Why do I go to church? I realize that since I've placed my faith in Jesus, He has cleansed me of all my sins - past, present and future. This means a realization that I don't have to "perform" to earn His love and forgiveness by doing things like showing up at a church. If I miss a church service, I know that God's love for me hasn't changed a single bit and I haven't lost my salvation (i.e. I'm still forgiven) and my faith doesn't hang in the balance. So I don't go because I have to, but because I get to.

Mainly, I go to church because of the other Christians. I go for fellowship with people more than fellowship with God, because a Christian should be spending the rest of their week in fellowship with God - at work, school, and play. Sunday should be merely the "icing on the cake" of their relationship with God, but too many believers make church the "cake" itself. And the cake doesn't taste too good - doesn't satisfy as much - if they've relied on the songs, and/or sermon, and/or time with other believers to be their sole time with God during the entire week. Dessert doesn't nourish the spirit like a full-course meal!

Anyhow, by hearing of the triumphs and tragedies of other believers, I can celebrate and mourn with them and thereby form strong bonds with them. I realize that if I think I'm going through something unique, there's at least one person there who's gone down the same path and I can learn a great deal from his experience, and more importantly that person can pray for me in my situation. My strongest friendships have resulted from people I have met at church.

Far too many Christians go to church because they think they have to. Often, they're the type who are concerned with image, who worry more about what other people think instead of what God thinks. I've found many people with this mindset to be the "Sunday Christian", putting on a facade on Sundays then spending the rest of the week living no differently than the typical non-Christian - chasing money and career, buying the toys, and living selfishly and for today. They simply show up on Sundays to spiritually 'fuel up' (on cake) and give everyone else the impression that they've got everything all together, spiritually and otherwise. Sadly, it is this type of Christian that some of my friends and relatives use as an excuse to not attend a church any more.

So, do you need "church"? That is, should you go to church? I've done enough writing for now. Check Part II of this post for my thoughts on this crucial question.

Belief versus trust, Part I

God has been really challenging me the past few months. In particular, He is continually speaking to my heart about the need to trust Him. (As an aside, He only ever spoke audibly to those He entrusted with the writing of the Scriptures that make up the Bible. Since that time, He has "spoken" to believers through other means, like a person or a situation. Christians often refer to getting a revelation from God as Him having "spoken to my heart".)

One thing He has made me notice a lot more in order for me to realize this need is reminders of all those times that I haven't trusted Him, all those times where I've become worried and even scared about how certain things in my life will work out. I've learned that whenever I become this way, it is a sure sign that I actually don't trust God to work my situation out.

He has also made me realize that this lack of trust is a plague amongst Christians in the western world and not just a problem unique to me. I've realized just how much I get caught up in the mindset that I'm supposed to be the provider of my family, how I'm supposed to work out problems at home and on the job. But whenever we're facing a difficult financial or home or work situation, the Bible emphasizes over and over and over and over again how we need to just stop, take a breather, and ask God for His wisdom and insight in that situation. We need to trust Him to be our ultimate provider and for Him to provide us with the answers to our problems.

Far too often, Christians don't stop or back away long enough - or even at all - to find out if the idea they have to handle a situation is even the right one, "right" meaning what God would have them do. For a while a few years back, it was a Christian fad to wear the "WWJD" bracelet, which acted as a reminder for a Christian in a difficult situation to stop, take a breather, and ask what Jesus would do in that situation. (The wiser instruction would have been to ask Jesus what to do, not try to imagine what He would do, which implies figuring it out ourselves instead of relying upon Him.)

Anyhow, my point is that like this fad, it seems that the body of Christ - i.e. those who claim to believe in Jesus, or Christians - particularly in the western world, has gotten back into the same habit that has served to make us as indistinguishable from non-believers as we've been all too often throughout history: we've gotten back to the mindset where we believe in Jesus for our salvation, that He has saved us from having to pay the penalty of our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him in heaven, but yet don't trust Him (i.e. God) with our lives while here on earth.

Some Christians might argue with me on this point, that if you have belief then trust is just a natural outgrowth. But both are an act of the will. We must choose to believe that God exists and that His claims in the Bible are for real, and then we must choose to trust God with the situations in our lives. This trust doesn't 'just happen' no more than belief 'just happens'.

To put this another way, whenever a non-believer reaches the point of realizing that unless they "get right" with God by being forgiven of all they've thought, said, and done to offend Him (our "sins"), then they will be punished for our sins for an eternity, often they're encouraged by a Christian to "pray a prayer" of forgiveness in order to be "saved", or to attain "salvation". Often, in that prayer, the person is asked by the Christian who is helping them to pray if they're willing to make Jesus their "Lord and Savior".

My point is that Christians seem to have no problem with making Jesus their Savior (trusting Him for their salvation), but they struggle immensely throughout the rest of their earthly lives with trusting Him to be their Lord - to put Him in charge of their lives so that He can show them how to get through the day-to-day, moment-to-moment situations that they face.

So why is this? Why are Christians so willing to trust Jesus for their "hell insurance" yet so stubbornly defiant or oblivious about trusting Him with finances, relationships, temptation struggles, etc? Here are the top reasons:

1. Old habits die hard - Especially if one is saved at a later age, the programming that s/he has received about being self-sufficient from the time of their birth is extremely difficult to change. It doesn't happen overnight, and only results from daily asking God to show them how to rely upon God instead of upon themselves any longer.
2. We're afraid of what others might think - If a non-Christian friend gives you advice about money or relationships, it's often true that the Bible's advice will be to do the opposite. Until one is grounded in their faith (which is the direct result of one's time spent reading the Bible, praying, and hanging out with other grounded Christians), it's very difficult to go against the grain. Christians in this day in age unfortunately worry far too much about what other people think than to obey what God wants them to do.
3. We think we know better - I've heard far too many stories about Christians who are convinced that God has spoken to them about doing this or that, then they do the opposite because God's way seems too illogical, uncomfortable, inconvenient, or will supposedly take too long. So off they go, marrying the first person who comes along instead of waiting for God's best, or buying that home too soon or buying a far bigger home than what is needed, or extending themselves financially far beyond what they earn, etc. What's even worse is when the Christian then gets mad at God when the foolishness of their plan blows up in their face.
4. We don't spend time getting to know God - And with lack of knowledge comes lack of understanding about how He thinks and operates. The greatest reason for the slow death that the western Christian church is dying right now is that we are too caught up with living life the way non-Christians do that we don't have time to spend with God, which occurs through reading the Bible, praying, and spending time with other Christians. The devil has us right where he wants us - too busy chasing that bigger/newer/more cool _____, or spending our time and money on leisurely, self-centered pursuits instead of getting to know God. And because we don't know and understand Him, we're unable to explain the Gospel - the "good news" about Jesus - in a way that's attractive and compelling to the non-believer. The non-believer is told that they need to "go to church", for example, rather than how they could experience a mind-blowing personal relationship with their Creator and the Creator of the entire universe who will provide them with a life and an eternity beyond anything they could ever imagine.
   

Here's what I do now whenever I get worried about a situation or think I have a better plan. I simply stop, take a breather, and ask for God's wisdom and insight in that situation. As soon as I'm tempted to think that my family's financial situation won't work out the way I want it to, for example, I go back to all those countless times where God never let us fall short. I also force myself to keep doing what I'm doing if God hasn't made things clear to me and wait until He leads me to do differently. I also ask Him if the way I want it to go is His best for us or not, and to give me the patience to let Him work it out the way He sees fit.

As soon as I encounter a home or work situation that stumps me, I throw up a little prayer (when I remember to do so!) and ask God to show me the way through it. If it's a situation that doesn't have a deadline, I back away and wait for Him to give me the answer or to work out the situation Himself.

In part II of this topic, I'll give some specific examples of how trusting God in different situations instead of my own ideas and so-called "wisdom" worked out for the better.