What if 9/11 never happened...
What if the Great Depression was just made up history...
What if the Iraq War didn’t actually occur...
What if disabled human beings were never made fun of...
What if children were never abused by enraged parents...
What if animals weren’t discarded like trash for the simple fact that a shelter ran out of room for them...
Then this world would be nothing short of a splendid piece of perfection and paradise. Would you not agree? But these things do happen and they all to often crush the human spirit. They leave us wondering why? Why such evilness, destruction, and sinful nature? Now ask yourself an even more important question:
What if Jesus Christ never willingly endured the most brutal and vicious beating and persecution of all time?
It is because of this very act that humanity learned of one of the greatest gifts of all time... forgiveness. And without forgiveness neither you nor I would be able to remain sane in this nonsensical world that we inhabit. Forgiveness allows us to love once again when love is the farthest thing from our heart.
Let us reflect on this today, Easter Sunday. And let us give thanks for God’s unconditional love for us as he sacrificed His only son so that we may be saved.
Happy Easter and may God bless you!
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Working Wonders
Often times we all shy away from speaking about our faith and/or religious beliefs. The thought of the topic makes most of us cringe with fear that we may be over stepping our bounds with those around us. I'm certainly of the same mindset but today I'm gonna take that chance and let you in on a few small aspects of my own personal journey in this thing called faith.
I've never been a church person to be honest with you. Growing up a good little catholic boy I shuddered every Sunday morning when mom made us kids go to 8 am mass whether we liked it or not. I mean come on all you parents out there don't you realize that Sunday morning is better meant for SLEEP than religious rituals that bore your little child monsters to death?! Needless to say I was turned off from religion and have been for many years.
That was until I saw an advertisement before a movie on the big screen at my local AMC theatres. What?? An advertisement for church at the movie theatre you ask? Yes'em. It wasn't until after I saw the same ad about 3 or 4 times that I thought what the hell (I'm glad God forgives *smile*) I'll give it a shot. So off to this church I go and needless to say my first impression was not exactly church like.
As I walked in I was greeted with a warm hello which was expected but then I entered into the auditorium where the service was held. The first thing that hit me was a view of these HUGE banners hanging from the rafters just above the stage up front that had pictures of an expensive and fancy sports car and a very lavish upper middle class McMansion in the middle of America suburbia. Then to top it off was one word that completed the magnificent banner - "MONEY". At this point I'm thinking to myself "What is this church all about?!" But instead of jumping up, grabbing my wallet, and running for the hills in fear of them taking me for everything I got I managed to calm my inner thoughts and stay for the sermon. And I'm glad I did :-)
I've never been to a place of worship that was more inviting and tolerant of it's congregation as Harborside Church is. You see the reason for the big banners and all the hoopla is that each month the pastor takes one topic and discusses how God wants us to live our life with the right intentions in regards to this topic. I soon found out that the church was doing a series on how finances affects each and every one of us in our everyday life. That first month they reinforced to me how important it was to spend responsibly and not to forget that life isn't all about what we have in physical possessions but rather what we can offer each other whether it be in friendships, financial help, or spiritual relationships.
Looking back I certainly appreciate my mother's efforts to get us boys to our Sunday sermon. For in her attempts she was subconsciously instilling the basic principles and values that all Christians strive to live by even though her little boy didn't realize it at the time. As for my father he has consistently preached to us kids that he has one and ONLY one expectation of his sons in this life here on earth. This expectation is to be a good person regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in in life. But I am just now understanding the concept of how to put both of these incredibly important lessons together in hopes to become the testament of love that the good Lord wants us to become everyday that we reside here on earth.
So almost a year later I have to say that I now can't wait for Sunday mornings to come along although I do get my much need sleep by picking the 10:45 am service to attend. I'm slowly growing in my spiritual journey to understand what the good Lord has in store for me. I'm certainly not even close to being an expert or even a half informed novice but that will come with time. For He is working wonders within me for what feels like the first time in my life.
I've never been a church person to be honest with you. Growing up a good little catholic boy I shuddered every Sunday morning when mom made us kids go to 8 am mass whether we liked it or not. I mean come on all you parents out there don't you realize that Sunday morning is better meant for SLEEP than religious rituals that bore your little child monsters to death?! Needless to say I was turned off from religion and have been for many years.
That was until I saw an advertisement before a movie on the big screen at my local AMC theatres. What?? An advertisement for church at the movie theatre you ask? Yes'em. It wasn't until after I saw the same ad about 3 or 4 times that I thought what the hell (I'm glad God forgives *smile*) I'll give it a shot. So off to this church I go and needless to say my first impression was not exactly church like.
As I walked in I was greeted with a warm hello which was expected but then I entered into the auditorium where the service was held. The first thing that hit me was a view of these HUGE banners hanging from the rafters just above the stage up front that had pictures of an expensive and fancy sports car and a very lavish upper middle class McMansion in the middle of America suburbia. Then to top it off was one word that completed the magnificent banner - "MONEY". At this point I'm thinking to myself "What is this church all about?!" But instead of jumping up, grabbing my wallet, and running for the hills in fear of them taking me for everything I got I managed to calm my inner thoughts and stay for the sermon. And I'm glad I did :-)
I've never been to a place of worship that was more inviting and tolerant of it's congregation as Harborside Church is. You see the reason for the big banners and all the hoopla is that each month the pastor takes one topic and discusses how God wants us to live our life with the right intentions in regards to this topic. I soon found out that the church was doing a series on how finances affects each and every one of us in our everyday life. That first month they reinforced to me how important it was to spend responsibly and not to forget that life isn't all about what we have in physical possessions but rather what we can offer each other whether it be in friendships, financial help, or spiritual relationships.
Looking back I certainly appreciate my mother's efforts to get us boys to our Sunday sermon. For in her attempts she was subconsciously instilling the basic principles and values that all Christians strive to live by even though her little boy didn't realize it at the time. As for my father he has consistently preached to us kids that he has one and ONLY one expectation of his sons in this life here on earth. This expectation is to be a good person regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in in life. But I am just now understanding the concept of how to put both of these incredibly important lessons together in hopes to become the testament of love that the good Lord wants us to become everyday that we reside here on earth.
So almost a year later I have to say that I now can't wait for Sunday mornings to come along although I do get my much need sleep by picking the 10:45 am service to attend. I'm slowly growing in my spiritual journey to understand what the good Lord has in store for me. I'm certainly not even close to being an expert or even a half informed novice but that will come with time. For He is working wonders within me for what feels like the first time in my life.
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