My Confession

I wrote this to a friend recently.

I thought I'd blog it.

I was raised Catholic.

Good priests as family friends.

One of these took on the parish we were in after the priest that came on to me in the confessional (when I was a teenager) resigned the priesthood.

I went into the service and became agnostic.

I was in a hotel in Germany when in the middle of the night I had some sort of abdominal attack that reminded me of the appendix I had previously had removed.
I had nowhere to turn for help.

I then called out to that invisible "god" that if he fixed this, I would find him and serve him.

The problem went away immediately.

I then began my search for him.

It took a few years.

I never considered Christianity, as it had no power (it seemed).

I read about black magic, Eastern Mysticism, New Age, all kinds of stuff.

I took to reading the Bible to be literate. The first words of Moby Dick (Call me Ishmael) were a biblical allusion that I was ignorant of.

One day, a girl I was dating gave me a tract that listed all the prophecies concerning the "Messiah" of the Jews, and every thing that Jesus did that fulfilled them.

Shortly after, in my living room, as I read it, I became convinced that Jesus was the One I was looking for and submitted myself to Him.

That is how I became a Christian. I made Jesus my Lord.

I later learned I had a sin problem I was unaware of (I thought I was "good enough") and made Him my Savior.
Like Catholics, I believe that Jesus died on the cross as the payment for my crimes against God (sin). He broke down the barrier that separated me from God.

Unlike Catholics (or the majority of) I believe (and this is what is regarded as Protestantism) that our right-standing with God can not be earned by what we do (keeping rules and regs, or the "Law") but only on what Jesus did for us.
If what Jesus did for us was not enough, then He isn't much of a savior.
But in turn, I live my life for Him, because he gave it back to me.
Catholicism turned what should be a personal relationship into a version of the Old Testament with works, structure and a priesthood between man and God.
God wants an individual relationship.
I do not espouse a religion.
I attend a church of a particular denomination, but could join (and have served in for awhile) another, easily. 

As I type this, and thanks for the opportunity to do so (I may post this), I am filled with the joy of knowing that I am safe with God and am reminded of the many times He has delivered me.
God made us for a purpose out of love. Not to blindly "serve" Him. He'd like the love returned.
He wants to fellowship with us like when Adam and Eve were in the garden with Him.

I don't know if you know this, but when Israel was in captivity in Babylon, a man named Daniel (who wrote the eponymous book) prayerfully asked God if what the prophet Jeremiah had said about Israel returning to Jerusalem in 70 years would be fulfilled (which it was). 

Daniel was told not to worry about that, but that in 70 times seven years, Messiah would come.

That prophecy was what inspired the Wise Men to seek the Babe when they did.
Jesus was born in the right year, in the right town, fulfilling what had been written hundreds of years previously.

It's stuff like that that convinced me of who He was/is.
When he broke the power of death and left an empty grave behind, He proved that He was the Messiah.

His disciples went to their torturous deaths avowing that they had seen Him after His death when all they had to do to live was deny Him.

Well, thanks for listening.

The takeaway about Protestantism is that Martin Luther, a priest, realized that we are saved by God's unmerited unearned favor (grace) towards us through faith in Jesus.
Saying so many prayers, paying so much money, denying yourself so many things doesn't cut it with God. To think that It's Jesus + anything to get into God's organization, devalues and scorns the gift God gave us for free.

Happy Thanksgiving.