A Literal Christian

Literal: true to fact; not exaggerated; actual or factual: a literal description of conditions. Being actually such, without exaggeration or inaccuracy.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about my mission this next year at Eastside Assembly of God. And I am convinced that what God wants from me it to teach Christian doctrine to the church. I know, I know, it sounds really boring. But I am realizing that too many people who attend church, not only Eastside, do not know what it really means to be a Christian. And the reason is because we avoid the doctrine, or the beliefs of the church. I am surprised in my conversations with people who are regular attendees of church at their beliefs concerning God, the Bible, The Church, life, death, the world, heaven, hell, tithing, the Holy Spirit, etc. So this next year I am going to put a real emphasis on teaching the doctrines of the Church. I will try to make it exciting too!

So with that said, here is why I am really writing this…I want to be a literal Christian. Not just the kind of Christian who was born into a family that goes to church. But I want to really live the Christian life. So I believe every word of the Bible to be the Word of God. I take the Bible literally. Now I know there are some symbolic things in there, but most of the Scriptures are to be taken literally. And when they are symbolic it is clear that they are not literal.

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.
The reason God gave us the Scripture was so that we could have intimate knowledge of Him. It doesn’t make any sense for the Bible to be hard to understand. I do not believe that God made the Scriptures hard to get. It doesn’t serve His purpose! And the easiest way to understand the Bible is the read it literally. Read it for what it actually says.

On December 5th I wrote on here some crazy things I believe. They aren’t really crazy but the world thinks they are… I believe these things based on reading the Bible and taking it literally. In other words, I believe whatever the Bible says!

So for 2011, my mission is to convince the church to be literally Christian! It will be interesting and it will be fun! Literally!

Christmas, Family, and Church

This last Sunday reminded me of why I am so blessed to be a part of Eastside Assembly of God. Sunday morning to see how much talent God has blessed our church with was a real reminder of how fortunate I am. I have to give a big shout out to Bill Moore and the Adult chorale for an excellent presentation. I enjoyed the whole service.

I also got to do something that the Church as a whole doesn’t know…so you get to be an “insider” on this. I had a family in the church that made a generous donation for the purpose of getting Christmas present for children in our church. We were able to bless five children with a Christmas miracle this year. I am so thankful to be part of a congregation of generous people!

Then on Sunday Evening I was so blessed to get to pray over the families of our church. Every time I pray I am reminded of all the great friendships God has given to my family and me. How funny was it to see Aaron get all those hugs? I know that Pastors are always saying that they love their church; but I want to tell you that I really, really do love Eastside Assembly of God, and I thank God everyday that I get to Pastor such a wonderful church!

I also am blessed with a wonderful family. I am so glad that Gloria and Aaron make up my immediate family. They are my best friends in the world. And both of them always do whatever I need them to do to help me Pastor the Church, They never say no. And I also have to say that this last year has reminded how important my extended family is to me. Growing up I always complained about having three sisters (I still think with good reason), however as we are now adults, notice I didn’t say grown up or mature, I know that I really love them and am glad to have them in my life. I know that I could call Jennifer, Allison, and Valeri and Nathan, and they would do anything I needed them to do!

So I know that this has been pretty sappy but I needed to tell everyone how blessed I feel this Christmas!

I believe some crazy things!

In 2006 I was writing for a local "ecumenical" magazine and realized very quickly that the things I believed...the things I thought were part of Biblical Christianity...were not what many Christians believed. So in 2007 when I came to Eastside one of the first Bible studies I taught was based on this list. I wanted to start off with everyone knowing where I was coming from in terms of my personal beliefs. I know that there are many other "crazy" things I believe but these seem to be the most notable. I posted this list in 2008 but I feel like I want to share it again!

I believe...

...God created the world in six 24 hour days

...Noah really did build an ark and that every animal was on it

...Jesus is the Son of God

...That Jesus’ mother, Mary was a virgin at his birth

...Jesus died on the cross for my sins

...Jesus was resurrected from the dead after three days in the grave

...The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and filled the church

...The gifts of the Spirit are for today–including speaking in other tongues

...In divine healing

...There is a difference between right and wrong

...In the devil

...In a literal hell

...Jesus will return before the tribulation and rapture the church

...God loves even me

...The Bible!