Change

I'm not much for politics, but I remember the mantra when Obama was running for office. "Change! We need CHANGE!" Well I know a bit about change. Obama has nothing on the LORD when it comes to it.

I pulled a file off an old hard drive tonight that listed my beliefs, or, more precisely, what used to be my beliefs less than 2 years ago. Let me highlight a few of them that were highly in error. We'll pick the top 5:

FALSE BELIEF 1: "I put faith in God, not in books, or, more precisely, not in the men responsible for the books we have today. I believe that texts written ages ago, by men, interpreted, by men, translated, by men, included or excluded from larger collections, by men, are not that reliable. I believe that it is a moot point whether any anicent text was divinely inspired or not. There have been numerous years in which numerous people could have twisted the original meaning, unintentionally, or, even worse, intentionally."

FALSE BELIEF 2: "I believe that many religions that worship God worship the same God, or aspects of God. I believe you can call God Allah, Jehovah, Christ, Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva, Ahura Mazda, or Bob, and be talking about the same God."

FALSE BELIEF 3: "I believe there are many paths to paradise, not one true and exclusive one. I choose to excercise my God-given free will to purposefully not decide to follow a specific religion that claims to be the one and only path to paradise."

FALSE BELIEF 4: "I believe that Jesus Christ could be the son of God (Christianity). I also believe that Jesus Christ could be a prophet (Islam). I also believe that Muhammad could be a prophet (Islam). I believe that Jesus Christ could have came to the Americas later (Mormonism). I believe that we could be reincarnated (Hinduism/Buddhism/Jainism)."

FALSE BELIEF 5: "I believe that, at least in this life on Earth, I will never know which of those, and which of many other core beliefs of various religions, is true and which is false. I believe guessing is not a good idea. I believe professing to believe something I may not truly believe is not a good idea, whether it would happen at random, to conform, or out of fear. I am a mere mortal and cannot possibly know which is correct and which is not; therefore, I feel it is better to acknowledge the possibility that anyone COULD be right, and, also, that NO ONE may be right."

Wow.

Its amazing to look back and read that. I sound like what the unbelieving world sounds like. The world that considers all systems equal and valid. The world that says we can't know absolute truth. The world that says there are many paths to God. The world that hates the Christian worldview.

So, before, I continue, let me clear a few things up regarding the above:

CORRECTION 1: The Bible is the authorative written word of God, recording creation, the fall of man, the promise of a savior, the fulfillment of that promise through the birth, life, death, resurrection, and asencion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a look into the future at the final restoration of God's creation.

CORRECTION 2: Many religions may worship the same God, but only Christians worship the true and living God. Any religion who denies the person, work, and deity of Jesus Christ does not worship God, but some other false god.

CORRECTION 3: Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. Period.

CORRECTION 4: Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth and died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. He is not a mere prophet. Muhammad is certainly a prophet -- a false one. So is Joseph Smith; thus, Jesus Christ also did not come to the Americas after his resurrection. There is no reincarnation. We are born, we live on earth, our bodies die, and we face judgement. There are no second chances. Make your choice now to reject or accept Jesus as savior and Lord; today is the day of salvation!

CORRECTION 5: There is an abundance of evidence for the existence of God and the truth of Christianity. Many are blind to it, as I once was before God drew me to Him and showed me the truth. Absolute truth is knowable, and the truth is that all need Christ.

Now THAT'S change. The LORD did an amazing work in my heart and mind.

Also amazing is the timing of that great and wonderful work. After many years of not caring much about truth at all, I decided to write down what I believe. Mostly as an exercise for myself. But that was about it. No big epiphany. No new worldview. Just a little bit of effort to think about what I actually thought. And it was from that moment on that little seemingly unconnected events in my life all began to work together in beautiful unison that led me to the LORD, until one day in desperation I cried out to Jesus, who saved me and gave me a completely new heart.

Praise God for his love, patience, and guidance! Praise my brothers and sisters in Christ for their many prayers for my salvation!

Grace and Peace