Faith, gotta have it, gotta keep it.
Here's some stuff about my faith.
Probably the best thing I could tell you about my faith is pretty simple. First, even though I was brought up going to church and Sunday school and everything, I still felt lost, disconnected, and I was tired of watching people who called themselves Christians say one thing and do another. I went on quite a search, reading a variety of books from a variety of faiths and what I found is that none of them had any answers. I was very fortunate to finally meet a couple of people who actually lived out what I had read about following Jesus. Once I finally decided to wrestle with life - with Christ as part of the struggle - things really were different. It was OK not to know the answers. It was fun to really be engaged with something. It still is.
There's more - you don't have to read it. It might be better if you didn't. The important part is just above. The rest is musings, feelings thoughts and some goofy ideas.
When I sat down to write this part of the page I thought about a few things. First, this really is the most important page to me, and here's my own public forum to tell people what I believe and why. Secondly, I thought, "Man! there's this whole book out there that explains it in never-ending connectedness, profound simplicity, and awesome complexity - the Bible. So, what am I going to write that hasn't already been written?" (note: rhetorical question)
The last thing I wanted to do, was give a "Sunday School Answer" to a serious question.
A little boy went to Sunday school, where he knew the sort of answers you're supposed to give to questions. The teacher asked,
"What is brown, furry, has a long tail, and stores up nuts for winter?"
"Well," the boy muttered, "I guess the answer is Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me."
I'll start with some basics. I believe in The LORD, God, who made everything, who is the un-caused, first-cause of everything. I believe that God created us perfect and gave us instructions on how to live our lives in an intimate loving relationship with Him. He also gave us the ability to make choices (free will) about whether we would obey him or not. I also believe that The LORD keeps His promises.
The first time that any person ever did anything wrong; anything against God's instructions, it ruined the relationship we could have with Him. But God loved that person, and every person who would come after them (insert your name here) so much that he promised right then and there to put things right again. He promised to send someone who would take all the just punnishment for everything that anyone had ever done wrong, and everything we ever will do against God's instructions, on his own shoulders, and die for us even though he would never even tell one little white lie. The Bible says the God can do more than we can ask or imagine. God created this impossible dream to fix the relationship between Himself and us. He did it out of love. Jesus Christ is God's promise kept, once and for all.
So, what's my point? Well, here are some questions:
Do you ever feel like there must be more to this life than what you experience with your five senses? That simply living and dying seems incomplete?
Does the idea that everything we see around us happening simply by random chance seem impossible?
Do you ever think there must be some intelligence out there, somewhere?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, here's another question. Do you believe in coincidence or miracles?
I'll put it another way. In the M. Night Shyamalan movie "Signs" Mel Gibson plays Graham, a man who has lost his wife in a tragic car accident and loses his faith. Graham's brother Merrill is looking for comfort. This dialogue follows.
GRAHAM
... There are all different ways
you can tell that there's someone
really there watching out for us.
You see signs. Sometimes they're
little ones. You think of someone.
The phone rings. They're on the
phone... Sometimes they're big,
like fourteen lights hovering over
Mexico City.
Sure, there are a lot of people
watching this who think this could
be a bad thing. But there are a
lot of people watching this, who
think it's a miracle. A sign of
God's existence. It's all in how
you look at things Merrill.
What you have to decide is what
kind of person you are? Are you
the type who believes in miracles
and looks for signs or are you the
kind who believes, things just
happen by chance?
MERRILL
I was at this party once. I'm on a
couch with Sara Mckinney. She was
just sitting there, looking
beautiful and staring at me. I go
to lean in and kiss her and I
realize I have gum in my mouth. I
turn and take out the gum. Stuff
it in my paper cup next to the sofa
and turn around. Sara Mckinney
throws up all over herself.
I knew the second it happened. It
was a miracle. I could have been
kissing her when she threw up.
That would have scarred me for
life. I may never have recovered.
(Merrill looks at the TV screen.)
MERRILL
I'm a miracle man. Those lights
are a miracle.
(Graham smiles)
GRAHAM
There you go.
So I'll ask you now, which type are you?
I've learned that I can't believe in coincidence, luck, or chance. My life has been a series of miracles. I survived a suicide attempt that I shouldn't have. A gunman killed someone right next to me, and didn't kill me. I've been in a car accident, with a drunk driver, where the entire front end was ripped off and I didn't get a scratch. I've held odd jobs, and had different experiences, all leading to what I do today that don't make sense in the context of happenstance. I was an adopted child, and now I'm reunited with my birth-family in an incredible set of circumstances that only make sense in the context of the guiding hand of The LORD. Watch the movie "Signs" to see how the Miracles in Graham's life turned out. If you are searching for answers, if anything I've written strikes a chord with you, I invite you to contact me [brianatkinson (at) mirthmobile.com]. I think we can find some answers together.
Here are some more basic ideas about my faith.
John 3:16-18 (The Message)
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New International Version)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Mark 12:28-31 (New International Version)
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
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Songs that hit me right where I live...
the sun was beating down inside the walls of stone and razor wire
as we made our way accross the prison yard
i felt my heart begin to race as we drew nearer to the place
where they say that death is waiting in the dark
the slamming doors of iron echoed through the halls
where despair holds life within it's cruel claws
but then i met a man who's face seemed so strangely out of place
a blinding light of hope was shining in his eyes
and with repentance in his voice he told me of his tragic choice
that led him to this place where he must pay the price
but then his voice grew strong as he began to tell
about the one he said had rescued him from hell,
he said...
i'm free, yeah, yeah, oh, i have been forgiven
God's love has taken off my chains and given me these wings
and i'm free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom i've been given
is something that not evevn death can take away from me
because i'm free
Jesus set me free
we said a prayer and said goodbye and tears began to fill my eyes
as i stepped back out into the blinding sun
and even as i drove away i found that i could not escape
the way he spoke of what the grace of God had done
i thought about how sin had sentenced us to die
and how God gave his only Son so you and i could say...
i'm free, yeah, yeah, oh, i have been forgiven
God's love has taken off my chains and given me these wings
and i'm free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom i've been given
is something that not evevn death can take away from me
because i'm free
and if the Son has set you free,
oh, if the Son has set you free,
then you are free indeed,
if the Son has set you free,
oh, if the Son has set you free,
then you are free, realy, realy free
oh, we're free, yeh, oh, we have been forgiven
God's grace has broken every chain and given us these wings
and we're free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom we've been given
is something that not even death can take from you and me
because we're free, yeah, the frreedom we've been given
is something that not even death can take from you and me
because we are free, oh we're free
we are free, we are free
the Son has set us free
if the Son has set you free
you are free indeed
(it's a song about being adopted by Christ)
I know youv'e heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
Youv'e heard about a place called home
But there doesn't seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream
Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in
And somewhere while you're sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be
When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold
When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in
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