My Warning

This post will be a little less about my thoughts on things, and more about my experiences. It will also serve as a warning. I will tell you a bit more about me here. And about some troubles I went through.

If you have read my blog at all it should hopefully be very obvious that I am a Christian. However, it is only recently that I have felt so strongly about being a Christian (I'm talking about in the last few months before writing this). The reason is because most of the message I had heard all my life, about Jesus Christ dying for my sins, had been watered down so much. I would hear it repeated again and again that He died for my sins, but without the background behind any of this being explained, it all seemed very unimportant (for lack of a better word) to me. Yes, I knew what everyone said was true, but it carried very little meaning.

Whenever I went to church or heard someone read from or quote the Bible, it was almost always out of the New Testament and from many of the same passages. The meaning behind these passages and even the entire New Testament was never properly explained to me. What do I mean by properly? I will get to that shortly.

I did study the Old Testament, and I also knew most of the Bible stories as well (or better than) other kids. However, it was treated as something to talk about and "learn" from on Sunday's or neat little stories to tell kids before bed. Oh boy, have my perspectives on those stories changed!

This is where my warning comes into play. Many, if not most of all Christians, are doing this. They are making these stories, these very valuable and historically true and scientifically accurate stories, seem only as children's tales. They are also making the Old Testament unpropotionately weak. And worse yet, the biggest problem I had to overcome, was the fact that othe Christians were unknowingly downplaying the Almighty's power. That is part of the reason I myself rarely use the terms "God" or "Jesus", is because they were the only terms I heard most of my life, and they have lost meaning to me. As hard as that is to admit, it is true. So instead, I choose to use other names for our Creator.

Now what I mean by downplaying the Almighty's power is the fact that it is not mentioned enough, and when it is, not emphasized enough. Yes, I know that in church miracles are spoken of all the time! Jesus rising up from the dead, turning water into wine, feeding thousands with almost nothing, and several others. The problem is, at least it was for me, is that no one put nearly enough empasis on any of these. The sermon would always lead into how He loves us and died for us, and all that. Since I already knew that and had heard it dozens of times (and had already accepted Him), it was difficult for these to have lots of meaning for me.

There were the periodic sermons that would spark an interest when someone really went into the power of the All Powerful, but it didn't happen enough. And I hardly remember at all anyone making the "children's tales" in the Bible seem as they truly were, miraculous examples of the power and might of the Lord of Heaven's Armies!

This doesn't make any sense at all! When you look at the Bible, first off you notice it starts in the Old Testament. Also, it starts by showing the Almighty's power! What happens first in the Bible? Creation. Everything from nothing, because of a supernatural act on the part of the Creator. In the Old Testament (which is far larger then the New Testament), you see example after example of the Almighty's power and justice. You also see some of His love for us and some glimpses at His mercy. His love and mercy are shown most in the New Testament, through the Messiah. However, that is after thousands of years of history and well over half of the Bible. Everything else, all these examples of His undeniable power, lead up to this.

So why all my life did people ignore everything leading up to the ultimate example of love and mercy in Christ? After all, the All Knowing didn't. Why then do we?

Well I can tell you this, it kept me a weak Christian. So please to not make the same mistake. Do not ignore the power of the Almighty! Speak of it first and foremost, and those who listen will always hear. Heed my warning, maybe others will be saved years of learning as I have.

Now, everything really hit me all at once just a few months ago. I was on vacation and was reading some books, one in particular was a commentary on the book of Job. Unlike other commentaries talking about the faith of Job and such, this commentary showed how the book of Job was "one of the most historically and scientifically accurate records of the ancient world". It focused more on the power, wisdom and knowledge of the God of Job. That was the biggest turn-a-round points for me. I devoured that book! Then I devoured the actual book of Job, rereading large portions several times. I had never read the Bible so passionately.

Within weeks of each other, event after event occured which made me more passionate about the Bible and my Christianity than ever before. I even began studying the Bible to help me better write my own books! In a period of several weeks, I felt more fear than I ever had before. And by fear, I mean fear of the Lord. I caught glimpse after glimpse of just how powerful He was. One example may be found in the first chapter of Genesis. During the creation account, it is said that "He [God] created the stars also". With that little sentence, the Almighty describes Himself creating most of the universe! Our little planet earth, which is so small it should hardly be given any thought in the Milkyway Galaxy, and that one galaxy out of so many hundreds of billions of others that it shouldn't be given any thought; this little planet was deemed so much more important than the rest of creation that the rest of the entire universe was pretty much described as "He created the stars also"!

I still have not fully grasped the signifigance of that one sentence, but the more I understand it the greater it is! The fact that He would create so much, yet choose this one little speck in the corner of the universe as the location where those who He made in His own image reside, is just astounding. This fear of Lord has put things into better perspective for me. There are times where anything beyond the moment doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what I have, how long I'll live, where I'll go when I die, or even if I'm a "good person". There are times where I am simply frozen in sheer awe at His power. Those are the best times of worship I have ever had. Where I am simply overwhelmed with the knowledge of how insignifigant I am, in terms of power. Compared to the universe and all that the Creator controls, I seem as nothing!

Now, I am still studying farther and have more and more revalations of His power since these events. I mainly study the Old Testament, to learn the history and signifigance of the New Testament. Reading of the miracles and power surrounding those such as Noah, or Abraham, Jacob, and others has been a great experience for me. And for once, I read these stories not as children's stories, but as HIStory. Some days I still struggle to actually pick up my Bible, but when I do pick it up, it is with great enthusiasm.

Overall my warning is to make sure that things to not repeat. Christianity once seemed almost boring for me. Everything in the New Testament was dull. Now that I am studying the Old Testament and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is constantly giving new life to the New Testament.

Also, my hope and prayer for eveyone who ever reads this is that they will also one day be able to experience what I am experiencing. This closeness, understanding and fear of their Creator. Not fear of retaliation or harm, but a fear composed of awe and wonder at something so much greater than ourselves! That is what Christianity is about! The most powerful being to ever exist, who created the universe and defined the laws of physics, who caused time to begin and to one day end, who can wipe out everything that exists with a mere thought; Christianity is about this All Powerful Creator wanting to know us. To know me...