Don't You Tell me About Your 'Faith'

... Not after you've already stepped off that cliff

This isn’t an essay by any stretch of the imagination, just a few posts from the blog that seem to tell something of a story when pieced together… the date (time stamp) is what i use to break up blog-posts… since these are just ‘posts’, none of the topics are completed thoughts… but, much of it challenges the Christian to examine our ‘religion’… note to the reader, if you get hung-up on the poor grammar and punctuation you have more problems than you are aware of, so don’t be distracted by it… if it bothers you that much then step-up, and offer your free editing services, but i’m more of a function over form type of guy, perhaps a bit lazy following rules of proper techniques, i’m just a creative-writer with no desire to reach a delusional/impossible perfection… cheers

Falling out of Grace

 11-12-23:  i'm not convinced on the theology/idea that we are all 'born' as sinners... everyone sins, of course, some folks it's habitual, there is human-nature and all, but at birth?  sure, we are all imperfect, so you could make the case that we are born-sinners... but i dunno, it seems that babies don't come out of their mothers sinning away... i'm starting to agree with the idea that when we are born we are as pure as we will ever be in our natural world, but we fall from that purity, just as angels have fallen, and eventually we understand how far from purity we have fallen, and then use Jesus as the example to strive for when we receive our figurative 'circumcision of our hearts' by the mission of Messiah... not even sure why i'm contemplating this, i don't know that it's an important religiousy thing to even know for seekers and followers, once you understand the need for a relationship with God, and do something about it, a theological debate about whether the chicken, or egg arrived first seems much less significant... who knows, i'm wrong about lots of things, but it seems like the future is what's most important, not what your thoughts/actions/deeds were when you were less than one second old... eventually we become our own little gods, or tyrants to some degree, we do selfish things that hurt others, instead of following the words, teachings, actions, and example of Jesus, therefore, require the forgiveness found through repentance and grace offered by our Creator... eventually we all sin, but i think we start out like the angels did, good and pure, and then we fall... how ever old or young we are when falling—or elevating—is unique as we are, and so are the circumstances that lead many folks back to God, via Christ/Messiah...

Naive Expectations and Grieving

 11-17-23:  most folks with distorted perceptions of God (and reality) seem to be hung-up on particular circumstances/events that they couldn't control in a manner that they think God should have controlled the experience, they don't think something was fare, so their anger about the situation is a grudge against God, it’s a great example of ‘impacted grief’… expectations were shattered by witnessing some aspect/act of evil... everyone has trials to walk through, everyone experiences events that can be traumatic -- events, or people to grieve... grieving is mostly a multi-emotional exercise of coming to grips with reality, before turning it around for good somehow... some folks take great pride in their accomplishments/achievements, their strengths, their 'use of free will'... but you don't get free-will to use if you expect/demand a controlling God, a God that controls every thought, word, and action of everyone, every animal, every man-made or natural disaster... God answers prayer in the way that only God can, but He DOESN'T micro-manage creation... we are all managers of creation to the capacity that we capable of... we all learn and discern at different ages, some folks can't manage anything very well, yet others seem to have their sh!t together from young ages... the experiences and events that sharpen our discernment between good and bad, love vs. evil, wrong from right can be hurtful, or praise-worthy--everyone is exposed to good and bad, everyone has a 'valley of the shadow of death' to traverse, and ‘mountain-top highs’ to experience... many folks learn during these events, some lessons are soon forgotten when the ego wasn't calibrated/tamed... what-ever the circumstances/events were that pushed us away from reality, only to grieve or glorify our very existence, what-ever those character-defining moments were, God wants you to turn-around for good now... grief will subside in do time, once you realize that you aren't God, just a small piece of Him, that helps maintain His creation, and that we can't control God, or everything that we want to, when we want to, with our desired outcome... when you are ready to approach reality again, just ask God to give you more understanding of the events, and how to turn them around for good, otherwise, you let/allowed evil to win... i know you are better, smarter, and more responsible to settle for that... I Love You, and so does Dad. -- ct

Faith … Really?

 11-20-23 later:  please, feel free to reach out, and tell me that i'm a heretic, a blaspheming so-and-so that contradicts the theology of a zillion Christians... but here, you actually don't have much 'faith'… the story and mission of Jesus, and of God our Father/Creator either makes sense to you, or it doesn't, you either understand it, or not... you have an understanding of something, maybe a bunch of it, or maybe you're in a '101', or 'beginners' understanding, and you probably have a few things that you still don't quite grasp — no worries, no one ever does, but you began with faith... God's Spirit is either working on your heart/ego/spirit/soul, or not... you choose to follow Jesus teachings and actions, or you don't... glad that you once had faith, now you have a bit more than that, you have a confidence in, and understanding of important things, a 'filter of wisdom' in which to interact-with/engage the world... our faith becomes an evolution of relationship, and experience with God, as we witness cause-and-affect by following simple principles, and through prayer... can God use you to do some pretty spectacular things sometimes, absolutely, is it by 'faith' that spectacular things happen, i dunno, you tell me, how many mountains (literal or figurative) have you moved, and are you still following God, and being open to working on His behalf... you are following God because you know better now, and are mindful/purposefully/actively pursuing a deeper connection with 'Dad'... don't confuse faith with the act of knowing and following God... you are an active-participant in the greatest relationship that ever existed, you either know that, or not... the word 'faith' is often used as a bit of a crutch to remain an ignorant dysfunctional idiot... you are not, unless that's the path that you choose to remain on... you have free-will, and spiritual-intelligence, if the mission of Jesus makes sense to you, you have accepted the friendship of our Source, and made a decision to actively pursue that relationship, and to work on behalf of God to positively effect humanity to some degree... you have much more understanding and wisdom to fall back on than a one-worded answer to 'what's you religion all about', it's a lot more understanding than 'faith' after you participated in some physical or metaphoric 'baptism', you are no longer an infant that was just birthed into a whole new world/perspective, you are now a functioning individual, who still relies on God for a TON throughout your life, and you won't understand everything as clearly, or as deeply as you want, and when you want, but you have much more understanding than faith alone, don't let the word 'faith' be a crutch to stay foolish, ignorant, and immature in your connection/relationship with God, and the way you interact with your environment/creation, you have much more than faith, you 'know', if God has imparted some of His Spirit into you then you have much more than faith now... you don't understand everything, but enough that you thoughtfully engage in your relationship, sometimes you might go astray, but you now 'KNOW' something, can you articulate that which you now know? Am i twisting words/theology enough to bother you, go ahead and tell me so, let 'er rip, tell me why i'm wrong... you are in a wireless/telepathic communication/relationship with God, the very God who encompasses the entire universe, so don't sit there blowing raspberries smacking yourself on your head saying 'faith Faith FAITH'... your individual story is a first-hand witness account to a cause and affect relationship that you partially understand... maybe faith birthed/started a chain-reaction, but faith was the tip of that ice-berg, you began considering God, and your infractions toward humanity, creation, and were being a hindrance/negative-effect for God, God confirmed that for you, and invited you into His arms, to offer you something that you have been missing... you accepted that invitation, an invitation to evolve/repent/grow, to turn away from things you know are wrong, to grow in your relationship, and make positive contributions toward humanity on behalf of Love... i don't know how much of that is simply 'faith'... you didn't just 'guess' something correctly, you acted out on motivation/understanding/wisdom, and maybe it's all by God's Spirit that you received it, and understood it... i think that's how is goes, something like that... i'll concede this, faith is still a fraction of your relationship, and you still have to exercise it when God is leading you to do something that doesn’t makes complete sense... anyways... always pray for more understanding (and faith if you are truly lacking), to see things more clearly, to embrace reality, both which is seen, and unseen, because reality includes both, and you are smart enough to understand that now, because you accepted God's invitation for friendship... good job, mate, good job... may God bless you in a new and exciting way, and please, you do your part to keep your relationship fresh too.   -- ct

Cults and Stuff

 11-20-23:  just another note about 'cults', a couple of the biggest signs are 'control' and ‘exploitation’, a straight-up cult will forcibly, or subtly control words/behaviors/actions -- if you are being an ass-hole they have every right to let you know as much, that's simply 'sound counsel', not control... straight-up cults will exploit naivety/ignorance/blind-spots, and your resources, including--but not limited to--your body for sexual fulfillment -- exploitation is an obvious, or subtle form of control, and imprisonment... here's a tip for you -- the reader -- Jesus came to 'set people free' not to hold people captive, He came to set people free in our body/minds/souls/spirits... folks that are trying to better themselves, be the best version of themselves, operate to a greater capacity, self-actualize, maximize your current potential... all of those things point to reality-based utilization of your free-will, intelligence, decision-making, understanding of cause-and-affect, and a desire to make positive contributions toward humanity, but all of those things require you to be free, not held captive by others... using your free-will and intelligence to make positive changes toward creation requires freedom, not control... 'control' is reserved for those who use their intelligence and free-will (gifts/resources) to harm/victimize/exploit/control others... your intelligence is a gift, use it wisely on your own (and to converse with God), exercise it, don't surrender it to cults, dictators, government... Christ came to set the captives free, but He also dealt with ass-holes/abusers/exploiters, and the like... let that be part of your 'how to recognize a cult'... if you are a violent idiot with a dysfunctional degree of self-control/regulation then you should expect to be corrected or controlled, no matter what society/culture/family/religion/organization you like to hang-out with... i could go on and on with this topic/subject, but i think i made my point, or two... exercise your intelligence, lest someone evil take it from you... Using the filter/litmus of the ‘two most important commandments’, go use your Godly relationship, intelligence, free will, talents and resources to make the world a better place for humanity, not just yourself… now go and be free, for crying out loud.  --  ct

Closing

Despite this post, i don’t really like to write about God, or religious matters… i prefer to leave that to the professionals… but i do enjoy writing ‘to God’, writing is one of the ways that i like to pray/communicate with our Creator… God knows that i’m a world-class ‘complainer’, i usually take my frustrations and complaints to Him in prayer, and in writing, and in thought… my mouth and mind don’t always work at the same speed (ADD-ish), so writing allows me the time to catch up to my thoughts… this post is mostly me complaining about some misunderstandings, the misunderstanding of others, and probably a bunch of my own… and HEY, may the concept of ‘Thanksgiving’ be one which you embrace, no matter what the calendar-date is; but, if you are currently battling your way through the valley of the shadow of death, don’t loose sight of the reality of God… and reach out if you feel the need… God bless — ct