Having, at different times of my short life, been part of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and the evangelical free church, I often consider and tussle with the different beliefs they each hold, and ponder what each might teach the others.
We refer to 'born again' Christians, as those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ as God, as man, and as the only way of salvation. This blog has grown out of a need to understand what exactly I believe, and how I wish to live out my beliefs. If asked pointedly what my denomination is, I would probably say I was an evangelical Christian. However, more and more I am reluctant to be 'pigeon holed'.
I fear it would be easy to throw the baby out with the bath water and then justify our actions. I think it is almost certain we will be shocked to meet in heaven, people who on earth would not have tagged 'evangelical', or 'baptist' or otherwise. I think some will be Roman Catholic, some Mormons, some people who we thought did not faith because they felt unable to attend worship with others. Some will be people, who if we are honest with ourselves, we thought God could never forgive.
I have to be careful how I say this, because it would be easy to misconstrue my meaning, but I think I have become narrow in my understanding of what following Jesus and worshipping the Trinity must look like. As a Catholic I personally was not saved, but that is not to say I haven't since learnt a great deal from those who were part of it, such as Ignatius of Loyola and his habit of finding God in all things. I no longer worship at in the Church of England, but I benefited much from the rich pattern of the church year, of liturgy and passion for social action.
All of these things I have begun thinking through, whilst continuing to work full time in secular employment, meeting with very normal people who rebel against God, who love me and challenge me and who occasionally frustrate me as much as I do them! Real life is the best classroom.
I plan to work through some of these thoughts, about liturgy, music, theology, prayer, inter faith dialogue, and to see where they take me. Feel free to join me on the journey, and to share your thoughts, even if you don't think I will agree with them.
