I am a Christian.  I believe in Jesus Christ.  I believe He is the Son of God and I believe He entered this world two thousand years ago through the womb of a virgin.  I trust implicitly that He is the Savior of all mankind, that He died on the cross, and that He rose again on the third day.  My lack of trust lies not with God, nor with His Son Jesus, but rather with the majority of those who claim to speak for Him today.  After having spent most of my life within the rank and file of the ultra-conservative, fundamentalist Christian “right” (about thirty years altogether), I have finally found the freedom to be the man I feel God created me to be.  Though changing one’s mind about something so monumental as one’s religious foundation is no easy process, when it is God at work in one’s heart, revealing the truth about Himself and what His intentions upon the earth really are, it is a liberating and beautiful experience.

It has not been easy to shake myself free of the shackles of the fundamentalist mindset that kept God in a box and never allowed my faith the opportunity to be challenged or stretched.  Yet, in a most unexpected way, God reached into my life and broke the chains that kept me bound to a rigid system of regulations, strict biblical literalism, and self-righteousness.  At last I have found the freedom to reach out in love and acceptance toward those different from myself and embrace their uniqueness.  I found that, in spite of what had been told to me for so long, God actually does love all of humanity--not just the ones who choose to follow a fundamentalist Christian set of beliefs.  This would include, of course, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, Jews, liberals, socialists, men and women of all races, and yes, even homosexuals.

I do not believe that God has placed me, or anyone else, on this earth for the purpose of pointing out the sins of others.  Neither do I believe that God has any vested interest in the creation of a “Christian” political empire here on the earth.  The earth and everything in it are already His Realm.  During our brief individual journeys here, I believe He has appointed us to take care of His earth, to demonstrate His love to our fellow man, and to work for justice, peace, and above all else, love.  This is, after all, the example He lived out for us when He walked among us.