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I am a spiritual man: a Southern Baptist. I am proud of that because of the core beliefs of our Baptist faith. I believe that God created man so that we might have, if we choose, a personal relationship with Him and that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. I believe that the Bible is God?s word, given to us through those He endowed with His Holy Spirit. The knowledge that God is at work around me is a great comfort, and a guiding force in my life. I was not always aware of His work, but have learned, through prayer and adult Sunday School, to recognize it, to act upon it, and give God the glory for it. I am not perfect, but Jesus leads me toward improvement and a turning away from my sin. I am also blessed to have a great pastor to help me grow in my faith, and a loving church family that has always been supportive and caring of my wife and I. It?s this loving and caring environment that has sustained us through trials and ordeals that might have led us to a life less pleasing to God. Our church family is one of the more appealing aspects of our church: second only to the spiritual growth we?ve enjoyed.

Living in the Pacific Northwest (Newberg, Or.), we, as a church, see our un-churched brothers and sisters and our concern for them weighs heavily on our hearts. Our expression of faith manifests itself in our love for our enemies as well as our friends, and we are convicted to bring them to the redeeming salvation only Christ can give. We love our brothers and sister (as Christ commanded) so much that we can not bear to see anyone spend eternity in hell, especially our friends and family. For no one comes before the Father except through Jesus Christ. So God has placed those who are so convicted here in the Northwest so we might accomplish His will. You might say, it?s a target rich environment.

People here are not generally hostile to our outreach, but neither are they embracing us. We enjoy very modest success at best. By my experience, people will just walk the other way if you approach them with a Bible in your hand. The open hostility seems to be coming from these opinion polls where folks can express themselves in the relative safety of anonymity. The hostility also seems to be mostly directed at the institution of religion rather than at God.

I have come to realize that the negative image religion has garnered has been wrongly blamed on God and His church. I realize that a lot of evil has been perpetrated in the name of God and religion throughout history. I also know that this was not from God, but from the evil one who would destroy what God has built. Satan enters a man?s heart as easily as God when that man turns away from God to serve his own selfish interests such as greed, power, and lust. When a priest commits sins of the flesh, it is to satisfy his own carnal lusts, and is not from God. When a televangelist begs for your money and promises God?s favor, it is to satisfy his own greed, and is not from God. They have received their reward here on Earth, and will not receive their heavenly reward as a consequence.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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