For Those Who Seek
Hello,
Welcome to discover-the-trinity.
There are a number of reasons why I’m putting this site together. I find that I often come across people who are:
-open to the idea of God (or a higher power) but are disgusted with religion
-exploring philosophical ideas
-born and raised Christian, but questioning or struggling with what they have been or are being taught
-Christian and think that there is a lot more out there to discover about God.
I don’t want to go into my whole story here, but I have had a very hard time accepting Christianity as it is today…especially the evangelical version that I have been raised on. In fact, for a number of years I didn’t want to have anything to do with Christianity…but when I really started to deal with the question of why we are here, I prayed that God would show me something new…take me further. It wasn’t long after that a friend of mine gave me some cd’s that started me on an incredible journey of discovery.
This journey has led me to a very different understanding of who God is and what Christ was all about. Much to my surprise I discovered that much of what is called Christianity today is in fact very different from what Jesus Christ and His disciples taught. Many of the current accepted beliefs, teachings, and practices are in fact rooted in an interpretation of the gospel that has been twisted by Greek philosophy. For example, did you know that the whole concept of “going to heaven” is NOT actually Christian? That concept actually comes from the teaching of Plato and Socrates…not Christ. This is pretty radical stuff and hopefully I have grabbed your attention.
There is a lot here. You really have to be willing to study, question, and search. If you are not in that place, then you should probably just ignore what is here and go back to what you are comfortable with. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, it’s just that we are talking about fundamentally questioning what you currently know to be true and if you are not ready for that, then you will just get annoyed or bored by what is here.
Now, a word of caution. I have seen some people explore this just enough to justify doing what whatever they wanted to. This can cause you to hurt yourself and others…soo, once you start down this path, then please follow through with it enough to understand what it calls you to…not just what you are free from.
Also, a lot of people want the quick and easy answer. They want me shortcut the process for them. Unfortunately that’s just not possible. The quick answers won’t even make sense…and usually the questions being asked are simply the wrong questions. You will need to understand where the roots of your current beliefs come from and then do some real study for this to make sense. I’m a reasonably intelligent guy and it took me 2 years of serious study to really get a clue of what was going on. So, you will need to have patience and a willingness to go through some confusion (which is what will happen as you start to question what you have accepted for so long) before it will start to make some sense. Also, I find a lot of people get into the introductory stuff and say, “that’s no big deal” without going into what the implications are...which is where the real meat is.
And lastly, I strongly recommend going in order…I have put things in order on purpose…if you jump ahead, you will find it very confusing as you won’t have the foundation to understand it…and some things just won’t make sense. Give it some time, be patient…if you are truly searching, then you will have to go through this stuff several times…I know I did.
Good luck and God bless!
Jim
PS. This site is still under construction and, as I am very busy, it's being developed very slowly...so bookmark it and check back every so often.
If you have never really been told exactly what the Christian gospel is before, here is a link to some introductary information: Good News for Bad People
Note: it has 3 chapters so be sure to click on the link for the next chapter at the botton of each page.
For those who have already encountered the Christian message (in some form) ...start with the Rick Watts audio link below and then just work your way down the page.
Note: the links below will take you to a free file hoting site called MediaFire - which will give you the option to download the file.
Bruce Wauchope - The Gospel and Mental Health 1 |
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Bruce Wauchope - The Gospel and Mental Health 2 |
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This is a little off topic, but I wanted to put up this link to a very good article on creationism vs evolution: Must We Choose Between Science and the Bible?
