Z is for Ω At least it is in the Greek alphabet.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." Revelation 22:13. The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, outside of God there is nothing.
I try to live my life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, though I know I often fail. This may be unappealing and a bit of a turn off if you don't profess a faith but I can't help that. I hear all the arguments for and against God and increasingly hear the vocal anti-Christian lobby of Dawkins et al and find myself even more convinced of my faith.
The most preposterous claim by the likes of Dawkins is that Christians are not capable of free thought or of questioning what they are told. I would argue it's the other way around. Dawkins and his acolytes are the ones blinded by ignorant and irrational arguments. The bible is full of people questioning God and their faith and in the apostle Paul we have a fantastic role model for free thinking and questioning the status quo.
As Paul said in Romans, I am not ashamed of the gospel.. and as such I don't really care what you think of me or my faith. I'm not worried if you attack my faith or if my faith offends you, it's just that I believe in the living God and am happy to let you know this. Yes you could beat me in an argument using science and goodness knows what else but I've seen and experienced too much as a Christian to turn my back on Jesus. Also, I am deeply skeptical of the world and what it has to offer, whilst the world may deride my faith, it has little if anything of any value to offer in its place. I've seen and experienced some of what the world has to offer and it's not nice, it's not pretty and it does more harm than good. What I can tell you is that the faith journey I've been on over the last 27 years has radically transformed me from an 18 year old messed up waster and I simply have to give thanks to the living God, the Alpha and Omega.
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Here endeth the series Blogging From A To Z Challenge, April 2012. Normal service will be resumed shortly.
I was brought up Roman Catholic but to me the jury is still out on God. As a young boy my church-going days were out of a duty to be fulfilled, later after questioning religion I studied it more.
ReplyDeleteThe one opinion I would put forward here is the fact there are only positive theologies in the New Testament and ergo Christianity is a very positive thing.
Whether I share the beliefs behind the creed is another matter but that is a personal thing.
Amen! Congratulations, you've finished the challenge well. But, congratulations mostly for holding tight to God and His truth.
ReplyDeleteYours is the only other Omega I've seen thus far in the challenge beside mine. I totally appreciate what your faith means to and for you. I was born and raised a Roman Catholic until the day, at the age of 18, when I became pregnant and my monsignor cut me loose. I've tried to go back, but the cut went very deep, and when I sit through Mass, I hear those people worshiping by rote and not understanding what they're pledging. The break from my Church has allowed me to confirm the intensity of my faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is stronger than ever and He is ever present in my life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Nancy. I can't speak for the Catholic church but as a pastor of a non-denominational church I am often saddened by stories of people being judged and chased out of church. That is not the church's role!
ReplyDeleteAt Tree Of Life I'm currently doing a series based on Moses invitation to Hobab "Come with us and we will treat you well." Moses invited Hobab to join his family and promised to share the blessings God had promised with Hobab. Such an amazing and unconditional offer. that's what church should be like.
Another pastor friend of mine summs it up like this. Most churches want us to Behave, Believe and then Belong. What Jesus modelled and what our church wants is for folk to Belong, Believe and leave the Behave part to the work of the Holy spirit. We fall short on this but we try our best.
Glad to hear that regardless of how the church treated you that your faith still has meaning for you.
Bless you
Dean
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Congratulations on completing the A to Z Challenge. Anyone who spends a month working toward a goal always emerges a winner!
ReplyDeleteI read a novel recently that helped me put my thoughts in order about this: A Higher Court by John Betcher. It isn't meant to answer the questions for you, just to give you food for thought to organize your own thinking.
http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com Theme: A World of Crime
That's a wonderful Z post. And I admire your explanation of why you believe.
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