To grace y'all...

[its_salmon]

So, dear readers; much has conspired since my last monologue, first and foremost being the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the subsequent reprise of the "alleluia" into our liturgical vernacular

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Pt. 2 - Read Part 1 First

[its_salmon]

But here's what I do know. Jesus said "those who reject me, reject the one who sent me". And there's a whole lot of rejection of God going on in the world through the claims ABOUT JESUS made by Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, you name it. Such claims negate the power of the cross and the incarnation of almighty God in Jesus Christ becomes a big ole "What's the point?" statement. I know that this breaks the heart of our God who is, by nature a jealous God (to which I say that He should be a jealous God, begging us to turn our eyes from all that is not as important as Him, which is EVERYTHING). I don't want to break God's heart. I don't want to (as the Hebrews author writes) "trample the body of the Son of God underfoot". Indeed, in the same way, claims that other religious systems are equal to Jesus' sacrifice or that it's okay to reject Jesus for the Buddha do just that.

Now that leaves another thing for me to say. I do believe that there is some respectful truth in many many other religious systems. You can look at the way that other religions respond to God's call to help the poor and oppressed and know that this is not a misunderstanding of divine revelation. Any and all truth in this world comes from God and there are some truths to be learned from God through general revelations that have been interpreted by others who don't believe in Christ. By the same token, I can look at the intricacies of this earth and universe that the God of the Trinity has created and glean some God-truths. But the fact of the matter is, until we know the specific revelation of God to us through Jesus ("the image of the invisible God", Paul writes), we do not truly know the power of God's saving grace and (this is the really important part) we do not fully ENJOY and GLORIFY God as we were created to. It is not until we realize the truth of Christ's passion that we come to live in the ultimate love that God laid out for us and so basking in that love that we glorify God above all else.

My call is this to all of us: let us dig deep into scripture and first internalize and really take to heart what it means for Jesus to be who he said he was and to have accomplished what we believe that he accomplished. Believe me, the more we dig in, the more we find it to be the real truth. If you go looking for God in the Bible, you'll see Him face-to-face in Jesus Christ. You'll realize how much we need Jesus as a sinful, fallen humanity and the immensity of God's love will overwhelm you and it'll break your heart that others don't know that love.

Please internalize these things and respond. I don't claim to know all the answers, but I believe what is written here to be firmly supported by Holy Scripture and the truth of God revealed in the world. I think it's great that we discuss such things. I know God would prefer it to a discourse on who should have won on "American Idol". Let's explore this together. All are invited. I'll leave you with the words of Martin Luther.

"Christ is the offspring promised to Abraham; on him God has grounded all his promises. Therefore Christ alone is the means, the life and the mirror through which we see God and know his will. Through Christ, God declares his favour and mercy to us. In Christ we see that God is not an angry master and judge but a gracious and kind father, who blesses us, that is, who delivers us from the law, sin, death, and every evil, and gives us righteousness and eternal life through Christ."