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Posts Tagged ‘God’

THE LOWDOWN ON GETTING INTO HEAVEN

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2017| 9 Comments »

I’m pretty sure that when he drew this particular comic strip, Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis didn’t think it would become an educational tool. But the moment I saw it, my spidey sense tingled and I snapped a photo with my iPhone.

Pastis is criticizing Jesus followers here and even if you agree with him, I hope you’re open-minded enough to read on as I tell you the truth about this faith.

1. Going to church will NOT get you, or anyone else, into Heaven. This very common misconception has no connection with following Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong; attending regular services is a great idea. At church you can learn who God is, why He is passionately interested in YOU and how you can become the person He created you to be.

Oh, and along the way, you’ll learn exactly what Heaven is, why it’s the best place to be when this life ends and how you can make that happen.

But it doesn’t matter how often you attend church; on its own, it still won’t get you to Heaven.

2. In theory, cleaning up your act can get you into Heaven. But what does that mean? I can tell you right now that it means, way, WAY more than putting an end to drinking, swearing and carousing.

In fact, Jesus of Nazareth — whom many people believe is God’s Son — says “you must be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect”.

I feel quite safe in writing that no one on this planet except Jesus has ever, EVER come close to that standard.

So, how are you feeling now about your chances of qualifying for Heaven on your own efforts?

3. Are there judgemental, “religious” people in Heaven? Nope. Not even one. The people who arrive there after this life ends are transformed; ALL their character flaws are deleted, leaving only the best behind to live in eternity with their Creator.

In fact, think of the people in your life who you most admire, who you love spending time with, who inspire and encourage you, who bring you joy. Those are the kind of people in Heaven.

So after all this, how do you get to Heaven? It’s simple: God offers you Jesus — His life, His groundbreaking teachings, His remarkable compassion, His sin-destroying sacrificial death, His life-restoring resurrection — as a gift. All you need to do is accept that gift.

When you say yes to the gift of Jesus, He enters your soul and starts the life-long process of making you into the person God created you to be. That process finally finishes when this life ends and you enter into eternity with Him.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FROM ‘HATEFUL LEMMINGS’ TO AGENTS OF CHANGE

Posted in It's Not About 'Religion', tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 20, 2017| 17 Comments »

Elton John is being too kind here. The reality is, “organized religion” absolutely, overwhelmingly does not work.

In fact, “organized religion” is so wildly unsuccessful that just putting those two words together causes a negative reaction in people like me.

Because I follow Jesus of Nazareth — whom many people believe is the Son of God — you might not understand. Aren’t people like me all about “religion”? In a word, NO.

Serious followers of Jesus have zero interest in “religion” because it does exactly what Elton John says. Religious people seem addicted to:

  • harshly opposing anyone who doesn’t agree with them
  • judging others based on horribly superficial criteria like clothing, body jewelry, language and political positions
  • ignoring or downplaying their own weaknesses
  • isolating themselves from the world, instead of working to improve it

Where does this all lead? So often, it leads to religious people concluding that because they’re right, everyone else is wrong. It’s a pretty short trip from that conclusion to persecuting those “wrong” people.

Unfortunately, history overflows with horrifying examples of that thinking, from Christians rioting against Jews in the Middle Ages to present-day Islamic terrorists murdering Christians, Jews and anyone else who opposes their radical agenda.

There you have it; the hateful lemmings of “organized religion”.

Now let me advance to you the position of Jesus. In his book The End of Religion, Bruxy Cavey notes that in ancient biographries, Jesus “is not portrayed as the founder of a world religion, but the challenger of all religions. I am not suggesting that Jesus opposes all forms of organization, but that he opposes dependence on any one organization for our connection with God.”

Bruxy, a Canadian pastor, goes on to make this statement: “the primary mission of Jesus was to tear down religion as the foundation for people’s connection with God and to replace it with himself.”

Exactly. Being a Jesus follower is not about being part of a religion. It’s about establishing a relationship with the Son of God through prayer, reading the Bible and attending church. As that relationship deepens, Jesus followers open their heart, minds and souls to being led by Jesus to a place where we:

  1. Come to understand and support God’s position that all people, from terrorists to politicians, from blue-collar workers to billionaires, are worthy of His passionate love.
  2. Humbly agree that no one has the inside track on virtue; everyone has “sinned” — that is, missed the mark of what we can be — and that by following Jesus, God can and does change that through radical forgiveness.
  3. Recognize that we are Jesus’s loving ambassadors in a world that most of us will agree is not doing very well. In fact, as His ambassadors, Jesus followers are really God’s agents of change — allowing Him to work through us to make this planet a better place.

Do you want to be one of God’s agents of change? Yes or no, share your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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WHO GETS INTO HEAVEN?

Posted in It's Not About 'Religion', tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

When I saw this meme, helpfully posted in an atheism community, it instantly grabbed my attention because most of us, me included, don’t really know who believes in Heaven.

So I did some research. According to Wikipedia:

Buddhists seem to believe Heaven is a temporary illusionary reality (though, to be honest, it’s hard to nail down exactly what Buddhism teaches in this respect).

Hindus believe Heaven is a place of eternal, sublime beauty for liberated souls, but it’s not Hinduism’s final pursuit. Like Buddhism (from which it springs), I find it’s difficult to discern an exact Hindu concept of Heaven.

Sikhs believe “Heaven and Hell are not places for living hereafter, they are part of spiritual topography of man and do not exist otherwise.”

Jews — at least the orthodox strain — believe Heaven is part of a three-level universe; it’s above, Earth is in the middle and the underworld is the realm of the dead.

Muslims believe Heaven is an afterlife in Eden for those who do good deeds.

So, in this way, the graphic meme has a good point: others besides Christians believe they could be going to Heaven when this life ends.

So why do most people who believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God claim that Heaven — the dwelling place of God, His angels, His Son and all truly committed followers of Jesus — is only open to those who follow Jesus?

The answer is simple: The Words of Jesus. He tells anyone willing to listen that “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me”.

Is that exclusionary? In one sense, absolutely. In another sense, absolutely not. Anyone can accept God’s gift of Jesus — His miracles and teaching, His dying on a cross to make up for the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do, and His resurrection from the dead.

All these things are written about in ancient biographies of Jesus and there’s plenty of evidence to back up the key elements of His life. (Visit http://www.carm.org or http://www.ReasonableFaith.org and read the evidence for yourself.)

The important thing is — and this is the best news you’re ever going to read — it doesn’t matter if you’ve ignored God and His Son up ’til now. It doesn’t matter if you’ve followed another faith or guru. It doesn’t matter if you’ve committed moral crimes for which you can’t forgive yourself. All of it becomes secondary when you believe in Jesus and dedicate your life to following Him.

If you’ve done that, then all of Heaven is yours. And that Heaven, which includes an intimate relationship with God through His Son, starts right now, in THIS life.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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LINING UP WITH ATHEIST THOUGHT

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Have you noticed the stereotyping that guides pretty much every thought in this meme?

Yes, famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair (1919-95) was doing a whole lot of spiritual profiling when she made this statement. Let me break it down for you:

1. The clear inference is people of faith will always construct a church before a hospital. Where on earth does this strange viewpoint come from?

I’m sure there are a few misguided followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the divine Son of God) who think this way, but most are smart enough to realize “church” is NOT a building; it’s a body of believers who are doing their imperfect best to live for their creator and be part of the work He is doing in this very broken world.

This accurate definition means a “church” can meet in a school gym (and many do), a community centre or even someone’s living room.

So, I’m glad to conclude that just like Madalyn, I’d rather have a hospital constructed before a church.

2. Why must a deed be done before a prayer said? Why can’t the two happen at the same time? Believe it or not, prayer is often a catalyst to doing deeds.

Through prayer, people who follow Jesus communicate with the creator and master of time, space and the universe. Through prayer, we discern what God wants us to do. Then we get out into the world and do it.

Evidence? check out the websites of groups like Samaritan’s Purse, Christian Blind Mission, World Vision, Compassion Canada, International Justice Mission and many more. All the amazing work these aid organizations do is before, during and after prayer.

3. I guess I need to undertake a search because so far, I’ve yet to encounter even one Jesus follower who strives to “escape into death”. Followers of Jesus are deeply involved in life.

In my family, two stepchildren are parents. While my stepson is being a father, he’s deeply involved in his church, sings in a community choir and performs in local musicals. Can anyone credibly tell me he’s striving to “escape into death”?

4. I’m happy to report that Jesus followers are absolutely in agreement with Madalyn Murray O’Hair: we, too, want disease conquered, poverty banished and war eliminated.

We want this because not only will it make the world a better place, it’s what God wants. That’s why there are Jesus-following doctors, anti-poverty groups and advocates for peace.

So, now that you know some facts about the people who follow Jesus, are you more open to checking out what it means to follow Him? Our culture says don’t waste your time, but this is important stuff — now and after this life ends.

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THE TOTALITY OF DOGMA

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Dogma: an official system of principles or tenets concerning faith, morals, behaviour; a settled or established opinion, belief or principle.

–Dictionary.com

This word has taken on a negative context in our culture, suggesting narrow-minded inflexibility that many people insist is simply wrong.

Now, read this meme (posted in an atheist Internet community) again. Doesn’t it sound a little…dogmatic? Consider the points it makes:

“Dogmatic” people lack freedom. Well, freedom to do what? I follow Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the divine Son of God and I do my best to live my life according to His principles.

What freedom does Lindsey believe I lack? Can I not think the world is a beautiful place? Of course I can. And I do.

Does this mean I’m going to walk around with rose-coloured glasses and ignore the many, many human-caused problems that plague this planet? Absolutely not. That would be delusional. So should I wonder if Lindsey is deluding herself?

“Dogmatic” people’s vision is clouded and close-minded. Really? Yet another dogmatic assertion. My vision is clear enough to see the world is beautiful AND horribly messed up. One of the reasons I follow Jesus is I believe faith in Him is the starting point to fixing that mess.

As for the apparent horror of being “close-minded”, should my brain simply drift like an aimless amoeba for all time? Is that what Lindsey’s mind is doing?

I like what famed British writer and thinker G. K. Chesterton wrote about being open-minded: “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

I shut my mind on something solid when I decided to trust the evidence and believe that the sacrificial death of Jesus paid the price for all the wrong things I’ve done and all the right things I’ve failed to do (a price I could NEVER pay on my own). By doing this, one of the primary source documents of Jesus’ physical life on earth says I’ll “not be lost but have eternal life”.

What Jesus did is a gift that’s offered to everyone, including Lindsey. Including YOU. If you accept that gift, one of Jesus’ earliest followers says you’ll have “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness [and] faithfulness”.

This won’t happen overnight. But if you say ‘yes’ to faith in Jesus, a life-long construction project will begin. And it won’t end until this life ends and you spend eternity with your creator.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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A CASE OF BAD TIMING?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2017| 2 Comments »

JesusFollowing Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the divine Son of God, can lead to a transformed life, now and for all eternity. So this graphic, posted on an atheism internet community, brings up a very good point.

Did the millions of people who lived and died before Jesus was physically on this earth, about 2,000 years ago, have any chance of going to Heaven? Maybe that’s a question that’s occurred to people like you, who are open to spirituality.

Ancient writings, including four original-source biographies of Jesus, do not provide an absolutely clear answer – as I’ve discovered while researching the question.

Depending on which website you visit, there are long essays that quote various parts of the Bible to make this or that point. I gotta admit, reading some of this stuff made my eyes glaze over.

But in the end, each website came to the same conclusion: people were granted admission into Heaven, where they will spend eternity with their creator, through faith. Not in themselves. Not in their ability to live good lives, to be kind to others and/or to attend church regularly.

They went to Heaven based on faith only in God. One of Jesus’s earliest and most influential followers explains how this faith thing worked in the life of Abraham, who (1) lived and died thousands of years before the arrival of Jesus, and (2) is often considered the common denominator in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths:

If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story.

What we read in Scripture is, ‘Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.’

Another ancient writing from an early Jesus follower mentions a number of other faith-filled people who were prominent in the centuries before Jesus arrived:

Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.

People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted.

But they were after a far better country than that—Heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City [a place in Heaven] waiting for them.

I think it’s pretty plain, from these writings, that the atheist who created the meme that inspired this blog didn’t bother to research the character and principles of God before asking the question.

So what’s YOUR viewpoint? If you believe there’s a glorious life after this one, how do you think you’ll get in on it? By just being a “good person”? (If that’s where you stand, who defines “good” and how good is good enough?)

What about faith in Jesus of Nazareth? Does it make sense to you? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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BREAKING OUT OF PRISON

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 18, 2017| 1 Comment »

challenging-beliefs-2-17One of my favourite activities is lining up in solidarity with atheists. It was an atheist who put this graphic on the Internet and I found myself so strongly in agreement that I downloaded it to use on Frank’s Cottage.

As far as I’m concerned, every honest and thinking person MUST challenge their beliefs. Like a jeweller checking a diamond’s purity, they MUST hold them up to the hard light of critical examination.

That’s what I did for a long time. I investigated the claims of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) and weighed them against what I knew about others faiths, including atheism.

I read books, thought hard about the reality of this world, and debated concepts with brave, knowledgeable Christians. Finally, at age 42, I decided to follow Jesus.

Through this process, I escaped the prison of blindly accepting the dogma of our culture, which insists that we:

  • Buy the newest iPhone
  • Save for cruise ship vacations
  • Obsess over which celebrities are feuding on Twitter
  • Never, EVER consider the big questions of existence

So, to quote the graphic that started this blog, are you your own most effective prison warden? Or are you brave enough to wonder if a promotion, a new car and a bigger flat-screen TV will really boost your happiness?

If you’re at that place in life — and if you’ve read this far, I’m gonna assume you are — then consider these claims:

  1. There IS a creator, a perfect creator, and this creator knows everything about you.
  2. This creator wants to connect with you on the deepest level possible, but the wrong things you’ve done and right things you’ve failed to do have erected a Berlin Wall between you and Him.
  3. That wall is so tall and thick that nothing YOU ever do will ever break it down.
  4. So God, your creator, did the hard work for you — sending His perfect Son to this earth to show us how to live right and, finally, to die as a sacrifice. That sacrifice will destroy that wall for everyone who believes in the Son and follows Him. And I mean EVERYONE.

Why, you might ask, is this horrible sacrifice needed to break down the wall? Because the wrong things we do and the right things we fail to do are serious business for a perfect creator. Far, far more serious than our culture will ever admit.

How do I know this? One of Jesus’s earliest and most influential followers wrote, “When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death. But God gives his people a gift—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

If you come to the place of understanding this, then you will also understand just how glorious the gift of Jesus is. Are you willing to accept that gift? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE EMERGING TRUTH

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

crisis of faith atheismI can’t speak for any faith but my own, but I can tell you that most followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) have experienced at least one crisis of faith in their lives. And that includes me.

This shouldn’t be a surprise, to the atheist who posted this graphic online or to anyone else. Jesus followers live in a world surrounded by people who often believe there is no god.

That means Jesus followers are constantly exposed to family members, friends, work colleagues, social media, TV shows and more that have a very, very different and often incompatible worldview.

At times, Jesus followers can feel like freaks in a culture that insists power, fame, money, vacations, a trophy spouse, gigantic flat-screen TVs and the very latest iPhones are what we should be pursuing.

Is there a God? Does He care about us humans? Is there anything beyond this life? Are there really standards of right and wrong that don’t change with every shift of the wind? Who cares! Worship your family, get more stuff and plan your next vacation. Somehow everything will all work out, right? Right?

Add it all up, and it’s easy to see that Jesus followers are under a lot of pressure to give up their faith and follow the crowd.

I showed this graphic/meme to Ross Carkner, my thoughtful pastor friend. He agreed with the atheist who posted the meme in that a faith crisis is not about God testing us. He continues:

To my understanding, a crisis of faith is an inability to see the hand of God guiding us through the challenges of life. When we lose sight of God with the eyes of faith, then we become familiar with words like abandonment or betrayal.

So a crisis can take root in thoughts like, “my faith is weak” or “my faith is not big enough”. It may even extend to thinking that this whole God thing doesn’t work.

But faith is not about size, or perhaps even quality. Faith is about believing that God is present, working and guiding us, even when life circumstances seem to be blinding and confusing.

So, what is this “truth” that the graphic meme mentions? Is it the mantra that our culture peddles? Or is it something deeper, more profound and more important?

Let me advance this for your consideration:

  1. There is a creator who is absolutely perfect and, in many ways, beyond our ability to comprehend.
  2. This creator absolutely loves YOU and wants a relationship with YOU that begins in this life and extends into eternity.
  3. The wrong things you’ve done and right things you’ve failed to do don’t change that love, but they do put up a wall between you and your creator.
  4. No matter how hard you try, you can’t scale that wall or knock it down.
  5. In the end, you don’t have to do anything about that wall. Your creator did something about it through Jesus.
  6. Jesus died on a cross for all wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. Accept what He did, believe in Him, follow Him and the wall is GONE. Forever.

Sound interesting? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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WHAT ABOUT ‘ETERNAL SUFFERING’?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Bill HicksWhat would Bill Hicks think if he knew his words were still having an impact more than 20 years after his death?

The American comedian and social critic (1961-1994) wasn’t an atheist but, as you can read in this meme (found in an atheist internet community), he was no fan of his Christian upbringing.

But did Bill get it right? Is this an accurate depiction of God? Or is it a simplistic way to avoid a life of faith?

Let me spell out some facts about the God as understood by those who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son), then you can make up your own mind.

1. God is the creator of time, space, the universe and YOU. You say your parents, not God, made you? Certainly. But what – or who – gave them and all humans the ability to reproduce?

2. Yes, God’s love is infinite. To start with, there are lots of sections of ancient writings that explain this. Here is one: “God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.” Another quote from the same writer: “We should love each other, because love comes from God.”

3. God is perfect. One of the original-source biographies of Jesus’s physical life on earth puts it this simply: “your Father in heaven is perfect”.
Do I understand how this can be so in a world that has childhood cancer and dementia? Certainly not. But I’ve read so much from people who rage against God for these things; it all strikes me as a depressing waste of time and energy.
Far better, I’ve found, is to acknowledge that God is God and I am NOT and there is much that I’ll never understand until this life is finished.

4. As the creator of this world and everyone in it, God has the right to hold all of us to account for how we live our lives. He is the sole judge.

5. On our own, we will never, ever be able to explain away all the wrong things we’ve done and all the right things we’ve failed to do.

6. God knows we can’t meet His standards. But rather than drop His standards, He found a better way: send His perfect Son, Jesus, to this world. Jesus taught us the ways of God and the ways of true love for God, for ourselves and for others.
Finally, Jesus paid the penalty for the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do by dying on a cross.

7. Here’s the crux of the matter. One of the primary-source Jesus biographies says “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.”
Notice that it says ‘whoever believes in him’? If you believe in Jesus and trust in what He did for YOU, then God no longer sees the wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. He only sees His Son’s perfection.

8. If you don’t trust in and believe in Jesus, then when this life ends, you have to sufficiently explain yourself before God. If you can’t pull that off (and trust me, you CAN’T), then you face eternity separated from God. I guess that’s the “eternal suffering” part of Bill Hicks’ quote.

Does this make sense? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FALSE HOPE AND PRETEND WISDOM

Posted in It's Not About 'Religion', tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2017| 1 Comment »

Religion badWhy did I save this graphic after first seeing it in an atheist community? Because I can do better.

Yes, “religion” offers false hope for the poor. Yes, “religion” offers pretend wisdom for the stupid.

But it also offers opportunities to be judgemental. Hard-hearted. Unforgiving. Obsessed with keeping irrelevant rules. Unloving of anyone outside the “religious” group.

Had enough? I certainly have. That’s why I’ll always stand up, with any member of the atheist world, and declare that “religion” is downright horrible.

Before I go any further, let me clarify: the “religion” I’m referring to is what most of our culture generally thinks of when they hear the word. Not the dictionary definition.

Let me move you on to something far more life-affirming, soul-enhancing and character-building: faith. In this case, faith in Jesus of Nazareth, whom many people believe is the divine Son of God.

Jesus had as much interest in “religion” as you, me and the creator of the meme that inspired this blog. In other words, ZERO.

During His physical time on earth, Jesus spent much of his time opposing the dominant religious authorities in ancient Israel. In one of the original-source biographies of Jesus’ physical life, he notes “They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden”.

Yep. Nailed it.

So what about faith – in this case, faith in Jesus? Now we’re talking about something entirely different. We’re talking about:

  • Understanding who God is – the perfect and mysterious creator of time, space and the universe.
  • Understanding who we are – imperfect people who can’t live up to God’s standard of perfection.
  • Understanding who Jesus is – God’s absolutely perfect love GIFT to everyone who is willing to believe in Jesus and follow Him above everyone and everything else.

When you understand this and accept the gift of Jesus, you also understand that you no longer have to live up to God’s standard of perfection because Jesus paid the penalty for everything wrong you’ve ever done and everything right you’ve ever failed to do.

Finally, when you understand all this, you’ll want to become more like Jesus. You’ll want to be more generous and less selfish, more compassionate and less judgmental, more concerned about others and less preoccupied with yourself.

This is all part of the miracle that happens when you cast aside the priorities of our culture and make Jesus your priority. It’s a life-long process of change and growth that doesn’t end until you’re finished with this life and start your next life – eternity in the transforming, glorious presence of your Creator.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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