Perspective

Many years ago ,when I first started this blog, I had a very different perspective on religion and life in general. I was a Christian, a youth and young adult pastor, and I took care of a youth camp in the foothills of the Ozarks. I thought that I had found my purpose in life and I was happy.

One thing about me though is that I am rarely content enough with the “status quo” to not ask questions and because I ask questions my perspective on everything changed.

Being a disabled veteran I found that I had a lot of time to study, history and religion being two of my favorite subjects, but in the course of my studying I found that I had questions, questions that those senior to me didn't like answering.

The very first one I asked was If Christianity was supposed to be based on Judaism ,or at least had it's roots there, why does the Christian world worship on Sunday, when there is clearly no biblical basis for it anywhere in the bible, and the second question was why don't Christians follow the Jewish holy days and customs as Jesus would have? The most common answers that I received were a vague reference of collecting money on “the first day of the week” according to Paul's writings or because it was the day of the resurrection of Jesus, and that the requirements of “the laws of Moses” were no longer required.

None of these answers was satisfying and, as I said before, there was no commandment from G-d or even the prophets anywhere validating this change and claims. This really started me down the path of questioning everything and giving me a much different perspective on all that I had ever been taught.

In all candor, many in the Orthodox community will tell you,as a Gentile, that the Sabbath and the Holy days are designated for them only, as a sign between them and G-d that they are His people, and I agree with that, having said that, because they are supposed to be a light to the nations ,I personally believe that all of us should be learning from them , The Jews, and following their example as best as we Gentiles can. Perspective.

Perspective. Sometimes all it takes is asking the one question that is lurking in your mind; What if?

What if the things that I believe aren't actually in the bible but instead were invented by man?

What do you do with it? I know what I did, I studied more and learned more and it changed my perspective on everything I had ever believed to be true, some of which I have shared with you over the last few months.

Today my perspective is very different. While I disagree with many of the doctrines of Christianity, I still believe that G-d is using all religions to reach out to the people of the world and show them that there is a better way to live in this world and in this life.

Am I wrong? I suppose I could be, but let me ask you a question,especially those of you who have been shocked by what I have written, what makes my belief in Judaism any better then the Native Americans beliefs or a Wiccan? What makes Christianity any better then Hinduism?

I grant you that some beliefs are a bit stranger then others “the church of the flying spaghetti monster” comes to mind ( yes, it's real, look it up) but all of it boils down to perspective based on what you have been taught and have come to believe, or not believe, about G-d.

I hope that many of you reading this post will have really studied what I have briefly written about in the past posts. I hope if nothing else I have given you food for thought and have given you a different perspective.

Until my next post. Shalom