Introduction by Howard Schreiber
Not having been exposed to God or any form of faith until later in my life led to years of searching for how to get a “chip” in the faith game. Which led to studying all types of scripture, attending different houses of worship, listening to podcasts, participating in multiple Bible study groups, and spending hundreds of hours in online theological studies over the years, which have helped shape my faith. I believe the story of Christ; I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus never asked us to worship Him, but to imitate Him / be like Him. I see Christ in everything, i.e., The Universal Christ (Richard Rohr).
I have become hesitant about telling people that I am a Christian. Not because I’m ashamed of Jesus, but because of those who have claimed to believe in Jesus and yet seem uninterested in acting like him and using his name for their own personal gain. Christians have been the source of immense suffering in our society. I know prefer the term “Follower of Christ”.
I believe in the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). The concept of an all-mighty, all-powerful God sending His only begotten Son to earth (even for just a little while) to be with us, to be one of us, to teach us through His actions, and specifically miracles. Jesus taught important lessons about faith, kindness, and God’s ability to make great things from our most humble offerings. While teaching us, there are “No Others “and to “love one another”.
My faith includes respecting others' beliefs and following the “Golden Rule”. Love God with all your heart and treat others with the same way you want to be treated. When any religious discussion becomes closed-minded or “tribal” and insists on having all the correct answers or defining the rules regarding getting into Heaven or going to Hell. I find myself unable to participate in any type of mean-spirited religious fundamentalist-type discussions, or when the discussion becomes the need to prove their religion is the only truth. I define Fundamentalism as the inability to admit that one might be wrong. Fundamentalism or any closed system that cannot admit questioning, discussion, or critique. I find God’s grace in my search for understanding and believe there is more value in questioning than in the absolutes. People need to be more curious in their faith, and I am not all that concerned about what you believe, but why you believe it.
Finally, understanding that the Kingdom of God is within you changed everything for me. Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21). There is plenty of Heaven and Hell out there on earth right now on. Stop worrying about where it is up there or down there! Unwrap the gift that is already inside you, engage now!
People have been blessed with free will, which includes the ability to choose whatever faith they wish to follow. The Bible is not a personal message to the reader; it’s a collection of specific messages preserved for Christians by Christians through the ages. A mix of history, myth, metaphor, and poetry. While understanding that any good theologian can make the Bible sound, anyway they choose, and that lots of people have read the Bible in ways that justify oppression rather than promote love and justice.
We’ve spent our lives anchored to the idea that being a Christian means possessing a clear set of beliefs regarding Jesus Christ. Plagued with assumptions that we can’t still be called Christian, and if we don’t offer quick (and correct) answers. The only problem is that true spirituality and faith in God are relational. Not Intellectual.
I don’t think faith is something you can lose. I find great comfort in letting go of the need to be right. Imagine what it might feel like to be unburdened from the idea that you must know the truth about God.
Christianity has been its unrelenting insistence on a bad-cop God. There is no angry, wrathful, bloodthirsty god, God so holy and pure that very idea of your presence screams abomination. God’s essence consists entirely and purely of love.
The Bible is the inspired Word of God, or “God-breathed”. It unfolds as a divine love story between the Creator, God, and the object of his love, humankind. In the pages of the Bible, we learn of God’s interactions with humans.
The revelation for me was that once I got outside of organized religion, I was able to see with new eyes and a new heart. I think Christianity, especially in its “over-organized” form, has some real problems.
All my spiritual heroes have pushed the theological boundaries of their day ( Stan Mitchell, Rob Bell, Richard Rohr, John Shelby Sponge, C.S. Lewis, Bart Ehrman, Colby Martin, Viktor E. Frankl, Keith Giles, Brian McLaren– to name a few and you will hear them throughout my writings.
They all seem to be at their best when they were making very comfortable Christians very uncomfortable.
To close, it is an exciting and refreshing experience, not to reconstruct my faith, but to construct my faith from scratch. I have documented what I have learned and experienced over the years during this awesome spiritual journey. I am gratified to find that there are many others who are on the same faith journey with me, which is never-ending.
This faith journey that drives me is also my labor of love, and what I am meant to pursue with the rest of my time on this earth.