Challenging Our Faith

Anyone who exercises knows that when you cease from exercising, your muscles diminish and fat begins to grow again. In order to remain healthy we need to continue to move our bodies and eat healthy, but why aren't we applying this concept to our spiritual lives?

If I eat only bread every day what will my belly look like? I also need vegetables, fruit, water, and protein. I feel that when we limit ourselves to only one type of food we limit our overall health and consequences are likely to occur.

I have seen this same scenario among some right wing extremists who only watch one news source, think that news source somehow is always right. Also we see it among left wing liberals who think only MSNBC has it right. I'm not going to get into a media/political debate in this article, but I'm just trying to get a point across, so please bear with me.

We know that when a church only listens to one teacher all the time, they are bound to develop a cult mind. Ephesians 4 shows us that we need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers until we come into the unity of the faith. Jesus didn't come to set up denominations and he certainly didn't come to set up one denomination as the only assembly of believers. His church is an organic Body built up in the spirit by Him in a heavenly realm that we enter into as we believe.

The apostle Paul said that each person needs to be convinced in their own mind. I have heard it said many times before, "Know what you believe and why you believe it". I'd like to emphasize something specific in that statement. "Know what YOU believe and why YOU believe it".

Many churches today want you to know what THEY believe and why THEY believe it. We certainly have the freedom to search all that out. But if we believe what THEY believe, then is it really OUR belief? If you happen to agree with them, they so be it. And if you happen to disagree with them, you have every freedom to keep exploring until YOU have your own mind convinced. 

There are many Believers in the world today and I have been challenged by hearing out what other people believe and I feel that my faith has become stronger. My faith in Christ became strong while my faith in idols has diminished. Thankfully so! He wants us to have faith in HIM, not in Christianized idols. Anything can become an idol no matter how 'Christian' that thing may be.

In this journey I have been on, I have found many blogs, websites, and YouTube Channels that have exercised my faith, challenged my thinking, and helped shape me into a more mature Believer. I don't think maturity is something we can attain as an end all utopia. I think we are constantly maturing and we should never plateau. If we plateau we run the risk of becoming stagnant and in stagnancy mold begins to grow.

I say all this because I am going to be introducing some friends who have challenged me. These are brothers and sisters in Christ who are from various denominations, philosophies, and cultures that I have come to discover as mature people who can answer the tough questions I am known to ask. These are friends who have been very patient with me while I prodded with my inquisitive investigation of religion and faith.

While I may or may not agree with everything they believe, I have found that they have insight that is healthy to explore. They won't make you believe what they believe, but they are open to the tough questions. This is not always easy to find among Christians, but for those of you who are wanting to ask the tough questions, these are people that I feel have stood the test of my hardest questions.

I'll be creating a directory as well. This way you can read their blogs, watch their videos, and be convinced in your own mind. I am excited to present these friends to you and hope you can glean some powerful insight that they have to offer, even if you do happen to disagree with some of what they believe. I believe that God is not limited to handing out wisdom to only one denomination. He said ANYONE who asks for wisdom, he gives it liberally. :)

~Sis