{"id":415,"date":"2009-11-16T13:30:15","date_gmt":"2009-11-16T18:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=415"},"modified":"2012-09-09T13:42:22","modified_gmt":"2012-09-09T18:42:22","slug":"a-personal-note-to-all","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/a-personal-note-to-all\/","title":{"rendered":"A note to all"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first began to post blogs it was important for me to include a personal note as a means of sharing with the reader my demeanor and motivation in spite of my convictions regarding the content of the posts. <\/span><\/p>\n

I did this because the communication through the internet is limited in lacking the fuller dimension of knowing someone personally and therefore a reader\u2019s interpretative skills are sometimes diminished in assessing the goals and desires of the individual who is responsible for the writing content of the blog. <\/span><\/p>\n

So initially I started off by addressing each particular group as being individualistic in their beliefs and scope. However, as the blogsite began to grow I decided to keep more to the common elements of the groups by having one personal note rather than several which I felt would only overwhelm the reader by wading through the quagmire of clutter as it appears on my blog site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway sometimes when discussing critical items of belief and faith it is quite difficult because our worldview is such an integral part to our person and personality that we can\u2019t really differentiate between the individual and their value system.<\/span><\/p>\n

A person can only be dissected to a point but we can\u2019t separate his or her will from their being. A person is defined and described within their conceptual world views and anything less than this makes them a nonsensical person. <\/span><\/p>\n

I say this because often when I speak about ones religious beliefs or secular views it is often perceived that I am somehow attacking them personally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet that is not my intention but rather I hope to challenge this barrier by breaking through to the hearts and minds of the readers out of a commitment of love and concern for them while avoiding the pitfalls of pointless debates on the grounds of such base feelings of anger and meaningless judgments that often comes with these kinds of discussions and subjects. <\/span><\/p>\n

I think you can easily find this kind of forum contained within the rhetoric of the Internet without having to sift through the dialogue of these blogs.<\/span><\/p>\n

I will admit that many times when writing these blogs I did so in a very direct and forward manner and sometimes I got emotional but one thing I don\u2019t want others to misunderstand is that I\u2019m not inspired by hatred and anger towards the reader or group but my battle is with the institutions that have incorporated these beliefs of indoctrination. Again I realize organizations exist because of people but my heart is towards the care of the individual versus the impersonal corporate structure of these agencies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also if all I have accomplished through this blogsite was just an arousal of your anger rather than your intellect then I have failed to convey to you my message. My intent is not to offend even though my comments may be viewed as offensive and if all I have done is to be interpreted as expressions of hatred, prejudice, and violence then I have wasted both of our times in these efforts to communicate. Also I realize that not every person will benefit by reading these blogs but my hope and prayer is that somehow, someway that it will make a difference in somebody\u2019s life for the good.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I prepared to write these\u00a0 blogs\u00a0 I\u00a0 realized in all honesty\u00a0 that every person has some level or degree of deception which includes myself and that no one person has every answer to life’s questions. Yet in spite of these limitations it has not kept me from taking the responsibility to defend and pursue truth by walking its path wherever it may ultimately lead me and all I ask is that you join me in our walk together through this course of material. <\/span><\/p>\n

I know it sounds a bit arrogant and intolerant to use the word \u201ctruth\u201d in an absolute sense especially since we live in such a politically correct society that values the pluralistic views of relativism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet our societies function and depend upon the critical elements of truth as it forms the very basis of our human existence. Usually we don\u2019t have a problem in seeing this applied in various disciplines of law and order or in regards to the sciences but somehow we don\u2019t want to apply this same logic to the concept of religious belief. <\/span><\/p>\n

If we compartmentalize our lives and not apply truth universally then ultimately we deceive ourselves and we live a lie. Yet the greatness of human society and culture has been achieved through the pursuit of knowledge and once knowledge is attained and applied in an unbiased approach then progress takes place leading us towards the ultimate goal of its wisdom. <\/span><\/p>\n

So anyway as\u00a0you\u00a0begin this journey of researching these blogs be mindful of your own\u00a0presuppositions and\u00a0cultural filters which affect the way\u00a0you interpret life by defining\u00a0the very\u00a0boundaries of your being which we often act upon subconsciously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also I realize that to reconsider life can be a frightening matter or a traumatic event due to the possible repercussions concerning the possibility of our error of thought\u00a0which could place us in a position that is beyond our comfort zone. Yet without thinking about our lives critically we can often be lulled\u00a0into deception resulting in a willful ignorance. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to this we sometimes blindly take on the beliefs of our family, peers, government, and society at large without the possibility of even challenging those beliefs. We have a tendency to go along with the status quo and the social norms of which we regard as a type of standard for our ethical views on life.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like we believe first and then we center our world in supporting those beliefs. <\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway to begin with the central motif throughout the messages that I have posted is out of a concern to share with others that God loves all of humanity.\u00a0John 3:16 says that \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a living reality today in that there are many people from every culture, tribe, language and people group that have believed upon Him and not\u00a0out of\u00a0force or coercion but it was the love of God that drew them resulting in changed and transformed lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the realities of\u00a0Jesus can be seen in the demonstration of God\u2019s love toward others in bringing forth a living dynamic allowing the person to know God in a personal and real way. His work has manifested itself not only as a story as an influential man or a prophet but rather as a Savior who delivers people from drug addictions, pornography,\u00a0thievery,\u00a0adulterous\u00a0behavior, or whatever social ill mankind has been involved in. He has changed countless millions of lives including my own and for me to deny His living power and personal touch in respect to my testimony would be an act of hatred and\u00a0dishonesty towards you.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Jesus\u2019\u00a0approach in bringing people near to God is not by making us go through some type of\u00a0impossible obstacle course of works or by attempting to earn\u00a0credits through a merit system. But rather by simply\u00a0placing our faith and trust\u00a0in\u00a0His person and\u00a0work\u00a0as the\u00a0Messiah who is our righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus\u00a0said \u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light..\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He promises us eternal rest not based upon our own\u00a0efforts in which we fall miserably short but rather it is based\u00a0upon His work of righteousness resulting in our salvation through His sacrificial\u00a0death upon the cross. <\/span><\/p>\n

He took\u00a0God\u2019s just punishment upon Himself\u00a0by bearing our sins upon his back\u00a0resulting in our reconciliation towards\u00a0God. <\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion all I ask is that as you read through the blogs keep an open mind while prayerfully seeking God in all honesty and sincerity of heart. Again please forgive me if I have taken this matter to far on some points by overstating my position. I would do nothing to deliberately offend anyone and my aim and goal is to benefit others rather than be a detriment or nuisance to society. <\/span><\/p>\n


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When I first began to post blogs it was important for me to include a personal note as a means of sharing with the reader my demeanor and motivation in spite of my convictions regarding the content of the posts. I did this because the communication through the internet is limited in lacking the fuller […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-415","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusandjews.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}