Preface
I started these essays as a way to encourage other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; or as Paul exhorts us, to build up one another. There is a secondary motive as well. Because the grace of Jesus has touched me, I feel I have a responsibility to proclaim publicly and with transparent honesty the work that he has done and will continue to do in me. Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33, “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.” So what I am writing to you is in some sense a way that I can acknowledge Jesus before others. On the record; once it is “out there” on the internet, I cannot take it back, cannot hide it, cannot deny. It is my way of “owning” my life before Christ, before men.
Hallgrímskirkja Jesús Kristur
In this short inaugural essay, I want to recommend a trilogy by Luigi Giussani: The Religious Sense, At the Origin of the Christian Claim, and Why the Church? These have had a profound impact on me and I will likely be referring to them going forward. In my own words, to summarize them respectively, they deal with the universality of human experience of mystery by which we ask where did we come from, why do we exist? Secondly, what is God’s response to our questioning? And finally, why is the fellowship of believers, the Church, essential to vital spiritual life? Although raised as a Christian, these books posed questions I had never deeply considered. I needed to confront them and in doing so, I was lead to answers that were unexpectedly astonishing. I returned to my faith. I returned to the Word of God. I returned to the church and the communion. After more than thirty years. Mindful of “that still small voice,” long ignored, I wanted to organize my thoughts and share the incomparable gift of grace mediated through Christ Jesus; may it be an encouragement to your soul.
If you are not a Christian you may find my language difficult, the concepts may be unfamiliar. Well, to be honest, even if you are a believer! 😉 I use the most readable translation I have found for Bible quotes, but some of the grammar requires “concentration” to get the intended meaning; please stick with it and it will become clearer; you might have to read and re-read a few times. If you are not a Christian, you can easily accept the free gift of God’s grace as I mentioned on the Home page in my quote of Ephesians 2:8-10. This truly is Good News, the Gospel; your experience will guide you in this new relationship; there’s nothing magical about it. The Lord knows your heart and I believe he will guide you. As you learn more, you will understand more and it will be a wild ride!
My insights are not unprecedented or necessarily original. They stem from one man’s journey from light, through the darkness of the Valley of the Shadow, to rediscover the love of God, the mercy and grace of his sacrifice on the cross, and the mysterious experience of his presence in the body of Christ, the Church. If it is an encouragement to you, may all glory be reflected to him who made us.
The website is organized into brief essays, reflections along the trail, on how God has touched me in ways I could not imagine. I have sought to tell the truth, insofar as is possible, regarding my subjective experience as well as what I am learning through observation and study. I would expect you and I share common experiences to greater or lesser extent, but don’t worry if your experiences are different from mine, the narrative for each person must be different: Seeds sown on the ground. Bread cast upon the water. Loaves and fishes multiplied. With fear and trembling, I seek to to be faithful as I await his coming. “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you (us), not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance (II Peter 3:9, NRSV).
May the Lord bless you and keep you in his grace and may you have the gift of His peace, that which passes all understanding so you may stand with confidence on the day of the Lord, for we are His children, bought with a great price, and destined to reign with Him.