Religion or Relationship?

I have met a lot of people on this earthly journey. I‘ve been exposed to various denominations and have heard many different views on the bible. My father's family was Catholic and my mom's Protestant. I attended Catholic school when I was four years old and went through my first communion. Later, my mom began bringing my sister and me to a Baptist church. It was there that I was baptized at the age of ten (full immersion). For years, I continued on and off again in the Baptist faith, however I have visited Nazarene, Methodist, Pentecostal and non-denominational congregations. I studied with Jehovah's Witnesses and I attended a Sabbath keeping church for a number of years, even attending the annual festivals.

I can truly say that I learned something each step of the way and remain thankful for the many teachers who contributed to my growth and biblical understanding. The most important thing I’ve learned, perhaps, is that every one has some truth, but none have all. By saying that, I don't mean to insinuate that I do. What I mean is that each denomination believes and teaches something different, they all have some doctrines exclusive to them and they all in one way or another demand our allegiance to their particular brand of religion. It took me awhile, but I realize today that there is often a vast difference between religion and true Christianity. People around the world are religious and have a form of worship, but they don't all believe the same things or worship the same god. People can go to church every week and not possess an ounce of love for their fellowman. Others may not darken the door of a church and be the most spiritual people you ever met.

In every church I've attended, I've been persuaded to believe that they alone possessed the truth. I have often found them intolerant of those of other denominations. The way of salvation has been presented in more scenarios than I can count.

Yes, church attendance has taught me a lot over the years. With that said, my greatest insights have been and still are delivered directly from the Creator himself. My most abundant seasons of spiritual growth have come to me during long hours, days or weeks in solitary worship, hearing only His voice, reading His word, communing with him amid the beauty of nature. His presence is truly a healing balm to my spirit.

I am thankful for the journey God has allowed me to take. Sometimes difficult, often lonely, He has blessed me with a wealth of biblical knowledge and a vast understanding of His holy word. I am humbled that He has allowed me to see such marvelous things in His word, but that doesn't save me or make me better than anyone else or more holy or more loved. I love the Hebrew language, but a person doesn't have to speak Hebrew to worship him. I have a deep understanding of the symbols, types and shadow pictures of the Old Testament and how they all point to the Messiah, but one who knows nothing of these things can have a very personal, abiding relationship with God. I stand in awe in the face of some of these spiritual masters who have transcended their humanity to enter another dimension that few have known, but regardless of our station in life, our background, our upbringing, education, opportunities, shortcomings or sins, each of us is able to approach the throne of grace and receive salvation through Yeshua, our Messiah. He doesn’t care about our religion. He didn’t come to this earth to build a religion, but a relationship with mankind….a very personal relationship with each of us, to teach the coming Kingdom, or family of God, where all are welcome if they are willing to accept his invitation.

The pages of our Bibles paint a beautiful portrait of God’s love, enduring grace and mercy for all of His children. I see a prostitute kneeling at Jesus' feet, washing them with her hair, a blind man receiving his sight, an adulteress being given a clean slate, the lame walking, the leper cleansed, a thief on a cross receiving forgiveness, a tax collector being chosen as a disciple, a Samaritan woman at a well being offered living water, the dead raised, the poor hearing the gospel of the Kingdom. Our God is bigger than our religion. He's bigger than our petty differences. No matter who we are, if we come to Him in faith and ask for His help, He is willing to accept us and give us new life. It begins with what one lone man did so long ago. He entered the temple at Jerusalem, knelt before his God not daring to even lift his eyes and prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."