little z,
I hope I'm not coming across as boastful. For I'm truely concerned for Royston and others that share his views of the things of God. I really don't hold his attitude of Christianity against him, but rather those that have miss portrayed the love of God to him. I remember before I came to the point of accepting Christ, I saw many that called themselves Christians but yet the fruit of their life told a different story. I came to the conclusion that all Christians were nothing more than hypocrits. Then one day I came into contact with a gentle soul by the name of Miss Griff. She had heard my views of the Church and with a very soft reply she told me, George I understand why you don't want to go to church. But if you look you'll find at least one hypocrite in every church. Its sad but true. But if you let a hypocrite stand between you and God then the hypocrite is closer to God than you are.
And now that I am in Christ, my main concern is that I don't do that which I despised back then. This may be a shock to some, but Jesus was quoted in the Bible as saying, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kindom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (Matthew 7:21-23).
So I realized that there was something more to this than just saying Jesus is Lord. I must also, "do the will of the Father in heaven." But what was God's will for me, or any other Christian for that matter? From the Bible I read, in Matthew 22:36-40, A lawyer, testing Jesus, asked Him a question, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" Jesus said to him,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
So to make short work of an already long story. I just don't want to become a stumbling block to someone else that has yet to meet Christ. I hope and pray that I can become so transparent that the world dosen't notice me more than they see the love of Christ in me.
Sorry for being so long winded. Just shooting straight from the heart.
<><
George