There are a lot of different beliefs floating around out there. A lot of different “gods” that we can follow and with which to try to fill the empty spaces in our souls.  It’s been my experience that anything with which I’ve tried to fill those places has always come up short.  I’ve come to believe that the void we all feel at one time or another was made by God to be filled by God. That’s why nothing else works.

I was fortunate to have been raised in a very loving Christian home and made my profession of faith, followed by baptism, at the tender age of 10, at our local First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  I grew up loving Jesus, but really started a more intentional and deeper walk in my late teens.

When I married my husband who was raised in the Catholic church, we decided together that we wanted to start fresh at a church where we both felt we could grow and raise a family, and we found what we were looking for in the non-denominational, Bible-based Christian church. It has been in this type of church that we have placed membership in each of the three states in which we’ve lived, one even being a church-plant in which we were part of the founding body.  I say this because it gives the frame-work for what I’ve come to believe as a Christian of 45 years:

• I believe in God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• I believe that Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh, died, rose again, and now sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession on behalf of the believer.

• I believe in the person, work, power, fruit, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, who teaches and comforts the believer.

• I believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God.

• I believe that faith in the atoning sacrifice and grace of Jesus Christ is the only basis for eternal salvation, and true faith results in works of righteousness. I believe the mission of the church is to advance God’s Kingdom by extending to the world the love of God in word and in deed and to disciple the believers into spiritual maturity.

• I believe the only way possible to live the Christian life is by God’s power within us; therefore, I seek to practice a daily dependence on God’s Spirit to enable me to do what is right.

• I believe that Jesus Christ will one day return and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I’ve met more than a few people in my lifetime who have shunned the church, saying that it is “full of hypocrites.” I’ve always told them that they are absolutely right. We are ALL hypocritical by nature, as human beings in a broken, sin-filled world. If we’re in the church, we’re right where we need to be! I think it’s the people who hide behind self-righteous facades that tend to get under peoples’ skin.

Jesus came and died so that we didn’t need to hide anymore. He came so we could live in freedom from the sin that binds us, and not have to hide behind any masks or place false hope in earthly idols that have no power to deliver us or fill us up.  His death means that our sin can be wiped away permanently, assuring us of an eternity in heaven with Him – no matter how heinous the sin or ugly the past.

He came and died for me…and for YOU.  All we have to do is accept it through faith.

If you’d like to know more, please email me. I’d love to share with you.