"Steps to Salvation"...Really?

Far be it for me to ever knock anyone's attempts to lead another to Christ, but I think there's a break down of information at the point at which many doctrines speak of the so-called "steps to salvation". For one thing, remember the words of scripture, "While we were yet sinners..Christ died for us"

In the epistles, Paul is a fun read at times. He was a pretty hardcore Jew in his day, in terms of being bathed in the Torah and immersed in Pharisaical doctrine. Paul had to really change his approach once he began to follow Christ. He had even murdered followers of Christ before his encounter with our Lord!

I love to read Paul because he sounds so...human! He sometimes argues with himself and gets flat out exhausted in his discourse to the point at which he finally just says "Thank God for His son". Because Paul realizes his own human words just can't fully explain the message he wants so desperately to get across.

For this reason, Paul has been criticized over the years for having screwed up Christianity with his back and forth, contradictory dialogues. But he's a human being, and his letters were just that: Letters.

He was sending out messages to friends and followers in a covert way to try to spread the message of salvation and the story of Jesus Christ. He was just a man - and a former Pharisee as well.

Sometimes it was the "Gospel according to Paul", but most of the time the beautiful message about Jesus Christ and the Good News was first and foremost. For that reason, Paul has been a subject of debate among bible scholars and theologians.

There have been names given like "Paulianity" and "Pauline" doctrine. Some have pointed out that even Peter and James were called in to put Paul back in check because word got out that he was preaching improper doctrine.

But you have to put that aside. Read Paul's writings, cross-reference it with the words of Jesus Christ, Himself, as well as those of the prophets and King David, and then you can know what the human words of Paul are versus what the spiritual, divinely written words are.

It's that simple! Just as I am writing today -- or anyone else who writes about their experiences and knowledge based on their encounter with Jesus Christ.

The worst mistake anyone can make is to take some of the writings of the bible at face value. You always have to go at it with the premise of "who wrote it, when was it written, in what context, and who was it directed to?"

Supposing I wrote right now, in this current time, "The Lord is happy when you get on your computer and read scripture!"

And then a thousand years from now, when there are no more computers, someone takes that at face value and says "If you're not reading scripture on the computer, then the Lord won't be happy!"

You see -- the message is always the same -- Christ brought the GOOD NEWS (Godspel) and this was the focus of all the epistles and fulfillment of all the prophecies in the Old Testament.

Having said that -- let's move on.

The doctrine of "steps to salvation" is based on the "ramblings" of Paul (and I said endearingly because I adore Paul and his human-ness). But Jesus didn't really speak of things in such guided detail. He said "Follow me".

Jesus said "Believe".

Yet that's the hardest hurdle for non-believers to get over -- and sometimes it's hard for believers, themselves, to accept. Jesus didn't say "read this prayer, then do this, and then this, and then you will be saved".

No -- he didn't make it a step by step process. Jesus actually came to do away with such feeble human attempts to save themselves through process or ritual or "steps". His message was that it was going to be done. Finished. All we had to do was believe it, grasp it, accept it and live our lives according to the gift we have been given.

Being saved is the easy part -- living saved is the hard part.

If it were not that simple to just "be saved", then why would Jesus have said to crook hanging on the cross next to him, "Today, you will be with me in paradise"?

Or how many times do we read of him saying "Go now, your faith has fixed it" (my paraphrase). All He wanted to hear from us was that we were willing to open up our minds and hearts to Him and believe what He had told us. And at one point He even gave that benefit of the doubt to the soldier who said "I believe, help thou my unbelief".

You see -- we ARE free. We are BORN to be free and saved. Our species was saved the minute Jesus said "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do". That was it folks! DONE.

But for thousands of years human beings have been confused and living as if it wasn't done. The war is OVER -- God won. But unless we understand this and truly believe it, we will continue to beat ourselves and others up with judgement and condemnation because we think so highly of ourselves that we are in charge of own salvation! God already fixed that.

"Now go, and sin no more". That is going to be the basis for another article I will write but for now, let's consider the fact that every time we try to save ourselves, we are crucifying Jesus all over again. How many times does He need to hang on that cross for us to realize "it is finished"?

There is ONE God, ONE salvation, ONE moment in our history when the Maker of all things punched a whole into our atmosphere and involved Himself in a way that once and for all showed us that we are important and worthwhile. And we don't have to do ANYTHING to earn that. No more than our children have to do anything to "earn" our love for them.

So here we are -- in a troubled world, living everyday and having a hard time getting along with others at times, fighting against stress, traffic, bills, spouses, bosses, etc. And nothing is easy. Is that God's fault? No. It's the world we live in. This is why God had to do something drastic to fix this once and for all two thousand years ago on a cross on Galgotha. He could have just said "Enough" and wiped this thing out of the universe. But He decided to keep us around and return to His previous hopes and dreams for our species when He created us.

So it's true -- in the words of Jesus, "Believe".

Yep -- believe it! Even if it's hard on certain days -- if you believe it, life CAN be easier. Easier because of what is coming WITHIN us is stronger than what is coming AT us from the outside.

"Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world", and again, "In this world you will have great tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world".

All of this was the basis of everything Paul wrote -- if you understand that he was just a man and that, at that time, there was a need to get things in an orderly fashion for this new group of people and followers of Jesus Christ (they called it "The Way", rather than "Christianity")

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water when it comes to Paul's teachings either -- just remember that there is a context in which some of his thoughts and ideas were written that applied to THAT time.

So now that I've covered all of this, what do you have to do to be saved?

You have to just accept the fact that you ARE saved. No matter what you do. And you have to learn to like that idea! You have to learn to depend on that knowledge when you're going through troubled times. It isn't easy, it's a challenge, but in learning about this salvation, you need to try to reach out to your Father and take that first step to communicate with Him. Prayers don't have to be extraordinary -- Jesus taught us a simple prayer that basically covers everything, and then you can add in your own feelings as you go along!

So here are my steps to salvation:

1. Stop worrying about being a sinner. You can't help it. You live in a sinful world and God already knew that you were stuck in this dilemma and He fixed that.

2. Learn to love yourself as God loves you. The Law of Moses began with the message of Love. "Love your God, Love your neighbors AS yourself". First you have to love yourself. If we learn to love ourselves, then we don't get as down on ourselves and waste energy on beating yourself up. Try to be kind, be good, be nice! And try to make sound decisions, if you screw up, move on! It's over and you can't go back and change it. Do better next time. God's over it, now you get over it!

3. This should have been #1 but the obvious step is to turn your face to God and reach out to Him. This isn't as hard as it sounds. Just start talking to Him! Say the Lord's prayer, if nothing else, just say "Hi, I don't know you very well but I want to know you better". Then leave yourself resolutely ALONE. Let Him come to you and He will! Believe me He will. Look for Him. Good grief, just the other day I couldn't get the lid screwed off a bottle of nail polish and had struggled with it for ten minutes, finally, in exhaustion I said "Father can you help me with this?" Within seconds the lid gave way and came off!! Seriously -- He will make sure He lets you know He's listening! Baptism is taught in the Christian faith as a sacrament and symbol of being born into new life. It's a symbol of being "washed clean" of your former, idiotic and neurotic self. I highly recommend it as Jesus commanded his Disciples to Baptize new believers as a show of faith and a step towards accepting the gift of salvation from God.

4. Read the Bible. Go back and begin with Isaiah and then the Psalms, then move your way into the new Testament. You need to have some background on how this all came about. I would recommend reading it all if you are able, but if you just want the "gist" of it, start there. You will be surprised at how much you begin to really "know" God once you begin to immerse yourself in the writings of the prophets and the gospels.

5. Go on your way! Remember who you are -- a child of the most complete and perfect Being in all of Creation. An heir to the love and blessings and wisdom of the ages. And understand that one man gave His life in order for this to be possible for you. One man walked this earth in order to make sure that YOU would be safe and ready for eternity one day. Celebrate that knowledge!

The Bible says that King David danced before the ark of the covenant because he was so full of love and excitement and joy at knowing he was a child of God.

6. STOP WORRYING ABOUT STUPID STUFF!! "Consider the lilies", Jesus said. And He was spot on in understanding our dilemma here on this earth. He knows we have bills to pay, He knows we have struggles and stresses, but He teaches us this in order to quiet or spirits and lead us into a place of calm reflection that would help us to see the larger picture. If you're having a bad day because the power company just threatened to cut your power because you don't have the money to pay your bill, go into a room by yourself, get your head on straight, ask God to help you through this trial, and then call the power company back up and be perfectly honest with them -- there's always a solution if you CALMLY and confidently pursue one. God will give you that serenity to find it.

Oh and did I mention that you're already saved? All of this stuff was just about how to live saved.

Living saved is the challenge, BEING saved is the GIFT.

Receive it, open it, keep it because it's yours. Amen.

Flu shots

Not to sound conspiratorial -- but what's the deal with the free flu shots?

"get a flu shot now and receive a free set of ginzu knives"

"get a flu shot today and we'll pay your mortgage!"

Considering the fact that nothing is free in this country, this is all a little creepy. I've never gotten a flu shot in my life. My husband received his first flu shot last year and wound up in the ER with horrid nerve pain in his leg and swelling in his knee that didn't go away for months and the doctors were at a complete loss as to what happened to him.

My advice is that if you work in health care or are a teacher, you have to get one. If you're in a high risk group of developing complications from the flu, get one. But if you're otherwise healthy? I wouldn't get one if they were paying me to.

Let's talk about God

It is the 21^st century and human beings are yearning to hear from God.

Whether it’s the websites devoted to prophecy, the many books written like “Conversations with God”, “The Secret”, “The Shack”, or older publications like the “Urantia Book”.

It seems as if the words of the old Hebrew scriptures and those of the early centuries, A.D., have lost their lustier.

It seems that people have stopped trying to communicate with God in simple ways, as Jesus and the apostles had laid out; through prayer, meditation on the scriptures, in nature, music, art, or in finding ways to love and communicate better with people.

There is nothing wrong with yearning for God, if that’s really what modern people are doing. But in trading in the ancient writings of the prophets and of God’s own Spirit as it was manifested in a man, and then in the followers of that man, modern man has gone beyond simple “yearning” and plunged, instead, towards a dangerous and reckless path that could cause him to be more separated from the real God than he already is!

I’ve fallen into this trap, myself. Wanting desperately to “hear” from God in this day and age. Wanting answers to age-old questions, wanting assurances that we’re all “Okay”, and wanting to know what the future holds for our species and our planet. In all of my searching, the only thing that really made sense was to go home again – back to the Bible. Back to the words of prophets and of Jesus Christ and Paul and Peter and John. Back to the Psalms as they were a classic example of one carnal man who had an extraordinary relationship with God.

Why is it that when a Christian goes out in search for a better understanding of God, they always return back to what they knew all along, and in sheer exhaustion? Perhaps it is because we, who call ourselves “Christians”, have given so much time and energy over our life-times to knowing God, through fellowship in churches, in singing of the old hymns, in reading our bibles, knowing the bible stories and references, and having stepped out in faith by the act of baptism, have come far enough in our spiritual journey to know when we’re being mislead?

We hear that “still small voice”, calling us back to ourselves – to the truth that has implanted itself in our souls as a seed, and it reminds us that what we’re reading or experiencing is a little…off.

I’m not saying that because I was fortunate enough to be born in America or born a preacher’s kid -- that I somehow had the “inside track” on being a Christian. Indeed, I was a prodigal daughter, if there ever was one. Sometimes it’s those of us who have taken it for granted so much that stray the farthest away.

Those who are living in sub-par conditions in the Sudan or Indonesia, they are members of God’s family. They are yearning too, but Jesus did command his followers to go out into the world and let the truth be known.

People say, “how can Jesus be the only way if there’s tribal people who have never even heard of him?”

I say – we ARE saved. All of us. But I believe what God is waiting for is to see if we care enough about “tending his flock” to try to reach out to those people to the best of our abilities, and it’s also amazing that some of the farthest reaches of the earth produce tribal people who have some basic understanding of a Creator. How can those people be as lost as we, who are in this lovely civilization are? When they live simple lives, naturally, meditatively, and without the “luxuries” of material things? How could they be any worse off than we are? They don’t have near the distractions of chaos as we do.

Again – it’s about us – and whether or not we answer The Call.

Consider the story of Jonah – when he was mad at God for saving the sinners of Ninevah even after he had refused to cooperate and try to preach to them. Jonah’s irritation with God was due to the fact that he had to exert energy to do God’s work, and God was going to do His work anyway. But the true test here wasn’t for the sinners of Ninevah, it was for Jonah. Sometimes we’re called upon to do things that may or may not have a definitive result based on divine intervention, but it’s our obedience that delights the Father. So as much as we believe we’re “yearning” for him, He’s yearning for us even more.

For those of us who raised teenagers, do you believe in your heart that when your teenager is off with his or her friends, at school, at the mall, at a party or a dance, that they’re thinking about us? Not a chance. But if they suddenly realize they’re stranded or have no money or no ride, who do they call? They take us for granted – we love them anyway. We continue to love them and do everything in our power to show them we love them. We want them to be more considerate of us, because we raised them – we should at least get that respect!

How much do you think God yearns for communication and fellowship from His children?

It’s not something new either – it’s been going on for thousands of years. All through the Hebrew scriptures God is frustrated by the inconsiderate, ungrateful and downright disgusting behavior of His children. We say to our children “I’m going to count to 10!” But if God says “I will burn your city”, then somehow He is a tyrant?

No, He is a parent, but on a larger, more cosmic scale.

But it’s this sort of hypocrisy from modern man that has caused him to turn away from the truths of the Bible and seek out a more meek, mild and “earthly” god. A god that won’t demand anything – a god is unconcerned with our everyday lives and doesn’t care either way what we do as long as we don’t hurt each other, a god that wouldn’t dare do something as outlandish as a “human sacrifice” in giving up his very own son to a cross…

Oh and let us not forget the usual complaints..the “bible God” allows suffering when he could stop it! He told the Jews to fight and overcome the Philistines, so he was promoting violence! He speaks out against infidelity, homosexuality, and child abuse and oppression and ignorance and religious intolerance…

Oh dear, this CAN’T be the God we superior beings wish to believe in!

The new agers would have you believe that the world is imperfect because we, as individuals, have made choices to make it that way. Which is, in part, true – but it’s also imperfect because it is a physical realm and we are not really physical beings! Things of a physical nature die. We die. Not because we caused ourselves to die by thinking about death, but because we’re in physical vessels that don’t last forever! We’re not poor because we thought about poverty. We’re not sick because we thought about being sick

“All things pass away”, Jesus said.

But those things that are OF God, and His spiritual creation, don’t.

None of us has chosen to be poor or sick – as the “laws of attraction” believers would have you think. Sure, we bring bad consequences on ourselves by bad choices, that is cause and effect and it’s a very fundamental rule in our universe, but if you’ve ever watched a once vibrant, life-loving, Christ-centered person wither away and die of cancer, then you might realize that the “law or attraction” is very flawed. While there is some truth to it, as Jesus taught, it’s been twisted into something that has nothing whatsoever to do with God or Jesus – therefore it’s becoming something of a heresy. Even Satan knows the scriptures and how to use them to his advantage to mislead people!

God knew this life was going to be a tragedy for many of us. He knew well in advance that things were never going to be the way He would have liked them to be – so He devised a plan to fix it.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have great tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world”.

Obviously – Jesus knew also that this world was an imperfect, physical place with imperfect, physical people. But God, through the death and resurrection of His son, found a vehicle in human beings by which to pour out His spirit and give us all a lifeline to His spiritual realm. Where that is? I don’t know.

How it is? I don’t know either – but I know that IT IS.

For as long as we live life here on this planet, we WILL yearn for God, for His advice, His counsel, and answers to age-old questions, but sometimes – as Paul said about wanting God to remove the “thorn in his flesh”, we have to accept that His grace is sufficient for us – right now. That may be all He wishes for us to know at this time, for whatever reason.

Paul put it most eloquently and truthfully when he spoke about how he “thought and reasoned as a child”.

This goes back to what I wrote earlier about being parents. If, as Jesus wanted us to, we look to God as The Father, then we have to understand that, in this existence we’re in right now, we are like children – still learning. No matter what our age!

And we parents have all said to our children, at one time or another, “Because I said so!”.

Sometimes we know that their little minds aren’t ready for long explanations of things or answers that might still be over their little heads. We know this, and we might also say, “One day, you will understand”.

So why do we feel that God is being obtuse if He gives us this reply too?

Reincarnation? I don’t know. Do pedophiles get into heaven eventually? I don’t know. Does God grieve over homosexuality? I don’t know. But I trust that He created us and knows how to deal with us.

And yes, it is okay to say “I don’t know” sometimes. It’s better to say “I don’t know” than to put God into a box and presume to think your intellect is somehow far greater than His. “His ways our not our ways…His thoughts are not our thoughts”.

I don’t take this scripture to mean that we are alienated from being so close to Him that we understand His ways or His thoughts, but rather, to mean that we are still “looking in a mirror dimly”, as Paul writes, and that sometimes our ways are rather dumb compared to the ways of the Creator of the Universe and of us human beings.

Are we living in dangerous times? Always. Are we in the last days? We’ve probably been in the last days since the resurrection – because God chose at that time to involve Himself more intimately with us than He ever had before. Perhaps He began to implement His plan because He knew that the time was near. But “one day is as a thousand years to God”.

We don’t really know. We know the signs, we know that this world is in worse shape now than it is has ever been because it is more populated than ever before in history and, where there’s billions of people, there’s going to be billions of pockets of suffering and strife and violence and evil.

Whatever is going on right now, on God’s calendar, will be revealed to us in ways that He wants us to know. And I believe that we will know when the time is near – perhaps in our hearts and spirits. But no one knows how, when or what time of day it will be. No one knows if there will be a “rapture”, no one knows if Jesus is really going to return in a physical sense, no one really knows.

All we can know, or lean on, is the books of the Bible, and what God shows us in daily prayer, meditation, or even in nature. Whether it’s the words to a song at a particular moment, a random word from a stranger, or just a personal epiphany – God will communicate to us what HE knows we should know.

But what HE wants us to know, more than anything else, is that He loves us, that we are His, that we a part of His plan, that we are far more important in this cosmic universe than we realize, and that no matter what we do, nothing can separate us from His love. He wants us to take that knowledge and that love and share it with others – as He has done with us – so that they might know his love – and so that we might become and grow into the spiritual life-forms He made us to be. He would want us to take what He has shown us, taught us and given us and use it to “tend to His flock”. Both for our own personal enrichment and that of our brothers and sisters. He knows that we will be happier, healthier, and much better off when we are living this life the way He originally planned for us to live it.

Jesus said “be perfect”, even though He knows we’re not!

Parents, ask yourselves: What is it that you want most in this life for your children?

For me, I want mine to be happy, healthy, and able to find joy and peace in this life. I want my daughter to experience beauty and meaning and love. I don’t want her to suffer, I don’t want her to be sick or lonely or afraid.

I want her to know, more than anything, that she is loved and important and valuable.

“If you who are imperfect know how to give to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Oh dear friends! The words are there! They are there staring us all right in the face. Yet we have yearned so much for more that we have forgotten just how meaningful and true and right those words are! For now and for always. God doesn’t change. The words of Jesus are as true now as they were 2000 years ago! He addressed EVERYTHING.

Is it not enough? If not, then ask yourselves why. It’s not God’s issue, at this point, it’s man’s. But the need for God’s words and communication are such that human beings could be sucked into just about any old doctrine and that’s bad news for those of us who didn’t grow up in Christian homes or churches or have any fore-knowledge of Christianity. So it is so important that we do as Jesus commanded now, more than ever.

Go into the world and preach the gospel! Spread the Good News! Tell people about Jesus Christ, and yes, you may get ridiculed, laughed at, or chased away for doing so. The early Christians were murdered, torn apart by lions, hung upside down on crosses, and stoned to death for such things – a little laughter and mocking won’t kill you! But plant the seeds. Watch them grow. And if they don’t, it’s not because you didn’t try – it’s because that soil just wasn’t fertile. In that case, pray for that person or persons and move on – leave the tough cases to God, Himself. But keep moving and don’t stop.

Show it in word, deed, kindness, generosity, and be bold. It’s not the time to tippy-toe around. This is another malpractice of modern-day Christianity, that we don’t want to “offend” anyone.

Who cares? Jesus wasn’t too worried about that when he laid it out to the young rich kid about selling his “stuff” in order to follow Him.

How can spreading the love of the Father offend someone? How can speaking the truth be so awful that we have to cower ourselves because we must remain “politically correct”.

Enough of that! No one is worried about it when they talk about the Mayan calendar or the Tombs of the Egyptians or any other esoteric, new age “secrets”.

Like the line from the movie “Dirty Dancing”…

“No one puts Baby in the corner”, well – no one should put our Father and Creator in a box!

“So let your light therefore shine before men “.