The Church vs. the church (Part 1)

    When I talk about "The Church" to people after telling them I attend church they assume what I'm referring to is my church. In reality, when I say "the church" I not only mean our church, I am also talking about the church in Italy, in France, in Russia, the church in Canada, Japan, I mean The Church.

    "But how can you talk about other churches when you've never been there or know what they're like?" You ask? Simple, there is only one Church,what is written about the church in the Bible is still applicable to every church in existence today. So when there is a letter addressed to a specific church of that time, it still holds truth for all churches then, now, and forever.

    Before I came to Second Chance Church I was in a Lutheran church and there were times people asked me, "As a Lutheran, what do you believe?" and I was just a kid then, I didn't know what to say, even still to this day I have people ask, "As a Nazarene, what do you believe?" and still I don't know how to answer a question like  that. Well, I've been think about those questions lately and I have decided to answer them once and for all.

     #1 I am not labeled by my age, race, or gender so why should I be labeled by my denomination? People get offended when we use labels (race, gender, age) and, quite frankly, I'm offended when people go "Oh, he's a Nazarene." So I vote that we not use any of them.
     #2 I believe, as a follower of Christ, in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that God so loved me and you and the guy serving a life sentence and the girl with three baby daddies and no husband that He sent his Son to be born of a virgin into a world of chaos to show us how to walk on water, turn the other cheek, and trust the unseen. I believe Emmanuel walked among us and was led like a sheep to the slaughter to be humiliated, flogged, crucified, and sent to hell for a 3 day, one sided, battle royal with the devil for our sins. Now He sits at the right hand of the Father preparing a place for us, that is what I believe.

      I believe that in order to get to heaven I need to accept Christ into my life and allow Him to make a no-holds-barred hostile takeover of my heart and use it for His glory. No, I do not believe it is my job to, or anyone's job, to beat my religion down the throats of others, nor is it my responsibility to drag them to a building they don't want to be in full of people they don't know to listen to a message they might not understand in the hopes that they will come back. However, I do believe that it is my job, and the job of every so-called "Christian," to live a Christ-like life and show 'I have been changed, inside and out.' to show people I don't know that I love them regardless of what they've done, what they're doing, or what they might do later. My job is to look strangers in the heart and tell them "I love you period, because God loves you more." Because that is what I believe.

God is good.