To be happy in Jesus — is to trust and obey.

I believe that Jesus called everyone to follow him.  And in following him they must obey him.  He is not seeking worship of himself, though his worth-ship is apparent; he was re-connecting the created to their Creator.  He obeys the Father; we obey the Son.

Don’t misunderstand.  This is not a matrix organization where God is the boss of Jesus, and Jesus is the boss of us.  Jesus is the image of the Father, and we are to imitate Christ.  If we are to truly know Christ, then we must be in his will.  And to be in his will we must obey his teachings.

Where do we find his teachings?  Many are recorded in the gospels of the New Testament.  They are life lessons found in sermons, parables and responses in a real world setting.  Further teaching (or reinforcing of his Biblical words) can be received through the leading of the Holy Spirit, the unseen voice of God, who whispers in our ear to encourage, warn and correct.

Obedience is the foundation of our Christian walk.  It’s a process that will take many successes and failures until we reach an absolute state of oneness with him.  Eternity makes up this life and the next; the journey doesn’t end here.

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How do I know that Jesus even existed?  I don’t.  Some history books will acknowledge him, probably in response to the large following that had claimed his name as their own.  Even the Jewish historian Josephus referred to him as a “wise man … a doer of wonderful works.”

But the overwhelming evidence of Jesus is to be found in the eyewitness accounts recorded in the New Testament gospels of the Christian Bible.  Granted, the first gospel was actually penned some thirty years after the death of Christ, but the followers of Jesus grew so phenomenally in such a short period that it would be difficult to deny that someone had quite a significant influence in the start of what is now called Christianity.

Still, the four gospels don’t necessarily line up with each other, and the epistles (letters) develop themes and doctrines that aren’t easily corroborated by the words of Christ.  And early church fathers, followed by organized church leaders, have put a different spin on things for hundreds of years.  So why do I believe?

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I was asked the other day why I chose the title, “Framed By Faith,” for this blog.  Actually, a lot of thought went into it.

I wanted the site to be truly non-denominational in content.  I say truly because in my experience most so-called non-denominational church services would make you think that you’re in one of the many types of Baptist churches scattered liberally around our country.  You would have to double-check the bulletin or the sign out front to make sure you really were at a non-denominational church.

Quite simply, to be a denomination you must have more than one local church that believes the same thing about the Bible, Jesus, etc..  What further designates it as a denomination is if they have at least an annual regional or national meeting, which may or may not include a governing body.  A non-denominational church may believe exactly the same as their brothers and sisters down the street, but they are different because they don’t answer to anybody.

Inter-denominational groups also don’t answer to anyone, but they create a statement of faith that takes what they like from various denominations.  And they try to get along with everybody.  Usually.

I have found myself not fitting into anybody’s category as far as organized church goes.

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My neighbor’s mother died unexpectedly recently.  I don’t know the actual cause of death, but I knew that she was in a lot of pain from arthritis, neuropathy and persistent back pain.  Pain doesn’t kill, so how did she die?  Her son believed that she might have had a stroke during the night (she lived alone). That may be so, or she may have just given up.  Physical or mental circumstances can bring us to the point where we feel that we can no longer continue in this life.

Following death most cultures have a ritual in which the living gather to “pay their respects.”  I’m not sure what that really means.  Are they respecting the dead, or are they respecting the family, by showing up at the funeral?  A lot of people who go to funerals have had little or no contact with the deceased.  So what should happen in this 30 minutes to one hour gathering?

I’ll tell you what happened at this one.  There were two preachers:  one, a neighbor who ministers at a local church; the other a minister from a nearby town, and he also happened to be the deceased’s brother-in-law.

Here in the Bible Belt it’s not unusual to get gospel messages delivered at funerals.  This one was no different.  By gospel message I mean:  you’re a sinner; Jesus/God loves you; Jesus died for you; accept him and go to heaven; reject him and you go to hell.

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