Barneyisfat

If God created all the animals on the earth why is the eagle the only allowable mascot for a Christian college? We're so fixated on scripture that we forget that God created everything. I want to see God in everything. I want to see God in diversity, in nature, in relationships, etc.

We learned about Islam today in my World Religions class. We are practically muslims at my school. We are so fixated on our book that we deny the presence of God in our daily lives. A popular addage we throw around in theological debates is "experience doesn't make it scriptural." On eternal security, it doesn't matter if your aunt had been a missionary and then gave up the faith to worship satan - if there isn't scripture to back it up your point is invalid.

In Islam (I'm just starting to learn forgive me if I'm wrong) following the rules is of utmost importance. At my college (i've been here two years I've already learned this) following the rules is of utmost importance. We deny the Grace of God in our daily lives by our fixation on our book and our quest of following the rules. That's the point of Islam ... but, most assuredly not the point of the Christian faith.

I don't believe that my opinions or analogies are on par with scripture, but I do believe that God is working in my life and is using me daily. He called Hosea to marry a prostitute - I'm sure a few of his friends were a little upset that he wasn't following the rules. Jesus ate with prostitutes and tax collectors - maybe he had never heard the "avoid the appearance of evil" passage ... but he did (technically speaking he wrote it) and he ignored it. I think there's something there - I'm still searching.

We've missed the point - one of the most foundational points of Christianity. Our salvation is NOT dependent on our ability to follow the rules, but rather on the grace of God. God's Grace is not dependent on our ability to follow the rules, but rather on the death and resurrection of Christ.

We take the idea of "freedom from sin" and automatically assume it means that the freed person doesn't do that sin anymore ... I haven't seen any proof of this (ever) happening. I believe that freedom from sin is when you are freed from the guilt of sin - when you realize that God's grace has covered it and you don't need to feel guilty; you are truly free.

I think we over quote the "let's go sin a bunch to show how much God's Grace can cover - may it never be" line. I think that we use that verse to justify legalism. We can't see how ugly legalism is. Legalism (in any form) castrates the gospel message. As soon as Christ's death and resurrection aren't enough the very essence of the gospel has been eviscerated. Grace is what seperates Christianity from every other religion - I'm not willing to give that up to satisfy those who demand stricter adherence to rules.