Don't Stop Believing
Yeah, I know its a Journey song and my little boy will contend that its the Transformers song. This is the same guy who when asked what he wants to be when he grows up will tell you, Bumblebee from Transformers. Ok, so the guy's a little obsessed right now.
I'm not gonna be the one to burst his bubble that it is not humanly possible for him to become a car that also turns into an intelligent robot/alien who will save our planet from ultimate destruction. Who am I? Eventually he will come to his own conclusion that this life plan isn't feasible and I hope he remembers that I didn't dash his dreams at the assembly plant. Keep dreaming baby, eventually you'll get it right.
Now on to the real reason for this post. I've been around this church thing for a while now and something that has recently struck me as interesting is the high number of differing viewpoints we all have on things. I mean, is God grace, love, or a great big old guy who doesn't really care? Is He out to punish us for every little thing? What about heaven and hell? Are they up there and down there or around us everyday and we just can't see them? Are we predestined for one place or the other or does God allow us to choose even though He knows what our choice is gonna be? Why did He start this whole thing to begin with? How's it gonna end?
You must admit that we spend an awful lot of time thinking about those things, contending for our own beliefs and even if you're at all like me, worrying if we can really know. In the grand scheme of things does any of it matter? Have you ever changed your mind about something you thought your beliefs hinged upon? I personally was raised to believe certain things and as I've grown up in the faith and have learned about God for myself and heard other views I've changed my mind a lot. But I think that there are some things that don't really matter, they will just be like Oh, I was right, or Oh, I was wrong about that. The point is are you majoring in the minor things? Are you focused on the minute details or can you look at the big picture?
I'm not gonna be the one to burst his bubble that it is not humanly possible for him to become a car that also turns into an intelligent robot/alien who will save our planet from ultimate destruction. Who am I? Eventually he will come to his own conclusion that this life plan isn't feasible and I hope he remembers that I didn't dash his dreams at the assembly plant. Keep dreaming baby, eventually you'll get it right.
Now on to the real reason for this post. I've been around this church thing for a while now and something that has recently struck me as interesting is the high number of differing viewpoints we all have on things. I mean, is God grace, love, or a great big old guy who doesn't really care? Is He out to punish us for every little thing? What about heaven and hell? Are they up there and down there or around us everyday and we just can't see them? Are we predestined for one place or the other or does God allow us to choose even though He knows what our choice is gonna be? Why did He start this whole thing to begin with? How's it gonna end?
You must admit that we spend an awful lot of time thinking about those things, contending for our own beliefs and even if you're at all like me, worrying if we can really know. In the grand scheme of things does any of it matter? Have you ever changed your mind about something you thought your beliefs hinged upon? I personally was raised to believe certain things and as I've grown up in the faith and have learned about God for myself and heard other views I've changed my mind a lot. But I think that there are some things that don't really matter, they will just be like Oh, I was right, or Oh, I was wrong about that. The point is are you majoring in the minor things? Are you focused on the minute details or can you look at the big picture?
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
1 John 4:7-21 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Comments