February
February 21st
By
Feb 21, 2004

I've decided to come clean and publicly confess that I am an unbeliever ! I have rejected the faith by which most of our culture lives. I don't believe in good luck, lucky charms, horoscopes, star signs, nor in taking superstitious precautions such as touching wood, throwing salt, avoiding No.13, and not walking under ladders. I don't believe in blind fate, reincarnation, transcendental meditation, eastern gurus, spiritists, nor in mediums, nor the National Lottery. I do not accept that the devil is a 'dark god' with power to create evil mayhem everywhere as he is depicted in so many Hollywood films. I do not believe he has such authority because, at worst, he can only work on corrupting what God created to be good and beautiful. As I said, I am an unbeliever!
I do not believe that good deeds put us right with God, nor that by being good and attending church I accumulate good marks which impress God. In fact, I don't believe that anything I can achieve,can rescue me from my own ego, no matter how respectable, religious or moral I try to be. After all, self-made men always end up worshipping their creators, don't they? (Think about it!)
I don't believe that heaven is like earth, all over again, but with harps and clouds; nor do I believe that we get halos in heaven simply by the act of dropping dead! I don't believe in a god who is an angry tyrant, a hanging judge, an efficiency expert, a vast senile granddad in a celestial rocking chair, nor in an impersonal humourless, uncaring life-force grinding eternally on and grinding exceedingly small. I do not believe either that everyone's idea of God is just as valid as everyone else's, any more than I believe that any old Joe Soap has the right to pontificate on brain surgery.
In short, I'm free from these man-made faiths, including especially the beloved old English folk culture which now and then condescendingly nods at God at occasional attendances at tribal ceremonials, such as weddings, christenings and funerals.
I do believe that God is like Jesus of Nazareth, and to experience the miracle of being in a personal relationship with Him is to be set free from the cultural prison cells of all the world's DIY religions. Incidentally, I am not alone in this confession, because I've discovered that most truly committed Christians are at heart the most unbelieving folk in any town!
A prayer: Thank you Lord for the truth of Jesus, which sets us free. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. I John 5: 13 and 21
Now read: Romans 1: 18-37 and tremble!



© Copyright 2004 by Frank Cooke