Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money. He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money
~George Carlin~
I noticed the comment from a friend of mine the other day asking if we have a fear of God. Like my friend, it has taken me a good deal of time to overcome my own fear of the Lord. The fear that if I didn't somehow measure up to His requirements that He would suddenly become a God that I didn't sign up for. A God Who would, in an instant, forsake His own love for me and condemn me to punishment. I've spent a good portion of my life attempting to avoid the vengeance of this two-faced God. Is it any coincidence, then, that I've spent a good portion of my life adhering to the teachings of the mainstream church? Indeed, it is through the church by which I was taught to fear God. To fear His judgement. To fear His wrath. Indeed, this is one of the cornerstones of the teachings of the church, that we should fear a God Who loved us enough to create us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. That somehow, despite His love for me, that God would toss me under the bus if I didn't adhere to what the church taught me. One question I often asked is, what kind of love is this? It's also a question which I've been asked by many people when I engage in conversations about God. What loving God would condemn those He loves? Well, I believe that this fear of God comes down to how it is that we see Him in our life. Do we adhere to the teachings of the mainstream church, and believe that it is our own sin by which God will condemn us? Or, do we trust in another view of God. A view of God seldom spoken of in the church. That of a loving God Who loved us before time began {Paul to the Ephesians 1:4}. Can love even exist in the face of fear? The apostle John speaks to the truth that there is NO fear in the love of God {First Epistle of John 4:18}. We also know that the one true nature of God...is that of love {First Epistle of John 4:8}. That's right, God IS LOVE. We're told that "Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear." This is the God that I have come to know.
Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God! And we are! Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him
First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament
I've made no secret of the fact that my own view of the Lord and that taught by the mainstream church are radically different. For I do not adhere to the view of the church that God will love us one minute but then suddenly condemn us in the next. Indeed, one of the core beliefs of so called Christianity is that God never changes {To the Hebrews 13:8}. Knowing this, are we then forced into choosing which side of God to trust and believe in? Do we continue to live in fear of a vengeful God? Or, do we trust in the truth of the scriptures that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made in His likeness? That God has loved us enough to call Us His children. For if there is no turning with God, then there is absolutely NO room for the church narrative which proclaims that with God comes the threat of condemnation. The false narrative which is proven a lie by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross {Paul to the Romans 8:1}. That it is Christ Jesus who has given Himself for us "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. The truth spoken by Jesus Himself that we are not of this world, but that we now live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}. This is the truth of the Lord rarely spoken by those within the church. The truth which proclaims that in the love of God, there is no room for condemnation.
~Scott~
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