Where do I begin?

For many reading this blog the whole idea of who God is, what the bible is really about, and what it means to have a relationship with him is a subject that is not to well known. Everyone has heard theories about God, the bible, and most have experienced religion in some way shape or form. Most have walked into a church at some point in their lives, maybe for a wedding, or funeral. Some of you reading this may have even been raised in a church or religious organization at some point in your life.

The truth is most have had a touch point in their live with God, but in truth not many people today have an understanding of who God really is, or what’s even in the bible. There was a poll not to long ago that asked 32 questions on religion and , “the outcome showed nearly 6 out of 10 ranked religion “very important”, but only 4 out 10 said they attended worship services at least once a week” Article on poll

In this generation church has kind of lost its flare and less and less families are incorporating biblical teachings into their family structure. In turn, more and more generations are growing up with the notion that there may be a God and a book called the bible that has some teachings about him, and people go to Churches to listen to sermons about him. So it is easy to understand why more and more people find it intimidating to attend church and why many have no idea where to start when it comes to learning about God.

If you can relate to this then I want to dedicate these next couple of blogs to you, with no strings attached. I promise you there will be no hell fire and brim stone speeches, no suggestions on religious organizations to join, and nothing to cast judgment on you. I’ve come to an understanding that there are thousands of blogs, internet pages, televangelists, books, parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, and everything and everyone else out there that are proud to show us how imperfect we are and how we are all on the expressway to Hell. No, my purpose is to help you understand how one could begin, baby step wise, a slow and steady relationship with God and how to decipher this intimidating thousand plus page book we call the bible.In other words where do I begin if I were curious about God.

No One Is Perfect

Before we can begin I want to put out this disclaimer because I know it’s one of the biggest things that keep our heart closed to the notion of even coming near God. It’s the feeling that we are to messed up for God to ever open his heart to us. It’s the thought that your past, present, or both is so messed up…your past actions, thoughts, acts, mistakes, are so terrible that in no way, shape, or form will God ever…ever….ever…think about letting you near him. You may think that your current lifestyle is so twisted, and mangled with decisions of destruction you make consistently: whether it be addictions to drugs or sex, relationship choices, mistakes you choose to continuously make, lifestyle choices you feel are corrupt, associations you may be apart of, or actions you partake in that you know are totally messed up. I want you to know that no matter how many skeletons you have in your closet, whether in the past, present, or future…you can never be to messed up to approach God, even if this is your umpteenth attempt.

I give you one great example…the Apostle Paul, previously know as Saul the Sanhedrin Killer. He was like a Jewish version of Hitler. Serious, he was killing thousands of Jews…men, women, and children who decided to convert from Jewish teachings to Christianity. He actually put the hit out on the Apostle Stephen (one of the founding 12 apostles). Did you know he would go on to write 2/3 of the New Testament, which starts at the birth of Jesus to Revelation that last book in the bible. God would choose him to spread the gospel to all the gentiles (non-Jews) on his behalf throughout the world.

The one thing that I pray you will come to see is no one starts this process already clean with their life in order, are you kidding me. Most Christians today still have plenty of baggage their looking to dispose of. I mean were all still imperfect human beings, no matter where you’re at with God. What I hope you will comes to find is the process of coming to know God somehow influences the soul to change, and sometimes you don’t even notice it happening. Just know that God is stoked at the fact you’re even stirring the thought of him in your brain. You will come to see that most of the myths behind him and the bible is a lot different, and in the end God is more loving and forgiving then you could have ever imagined. Next week we’ll look at the first step…who is God.