G is for Good News

So being at church today was one of the most uplifting days I have had in a while. In my personal experiences with church during my lifetime, you usually walk away feeling guilty, hopeless and down right nasty. Not today. Not ever again.

I go to a church that is anti-religious. I had never heard of such a thing before but I don't think I can ever go back. Religion is such a man-made thing. All those people in church taking their mental attendance, sizing you up and down as you scoot your way down the pew. I never really understood all the stand-up, sit down, fight-fight-fight either. I am a Christian and never in anything have I ever read did Jesus or Moses or anyone recite the Nicene creed, sing any sort of ritualistic song or pull out their special polyester robes before they could be presentable to God. So why the heck do we do it? I wonder if God is sitting up there, impatiently nodding us through all those rituals so he can get around to the important part- getting close to us.

My pastor went stone-cold on religion today. It truly is a serious detractor to what God and Jesus really wants from us. I'm not much of a bible beater but I do think there are some great things you can take away from it. One of those such things is the book of Romans. If you think Christianity is all a bunch of "don't cuss, don't want anything, don't lust, don't drink (including caffeine) and sit around chanting and using strange "thou hallelujah" language, this is something for you to read. Here's my quick synopsis: We ALL sin. That sin makes us feel empty, lonely and downright nasty. God knows we sin and he knows we will continue to sin until the day he kills us off, because that's how it is. You can try to be as righteous and pious all you want; you're just wasting your time and more importantly, missing the point. Jesus wants us to have a relationship with Him so he can take care of that sin for you and make you right with God. The sin becomes His problem so you can be free and others can see that and get to know Him too. The End. That's the Good News. I've heard that phrase my entire life and never truly understood it until today. What great news! There's no way you will EVER live up to the laws God gave us. He gave us those laws so we would realize how much we need Jesus. So stop trying to be something you can't and get to know Him! He'll change you and that feeling of nastiness and worthlessness will disappear like vapor. No more worries about the attendance sheet, or if your Izod shirt measures up. No more feeling worthless and that He hates you because you got wasted or lied. He knows you'll probably do it again and wants to hang out with you anyway. Now that is some Good News!