~ "To sin or not to sin (and to pick and choose)..."

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16)

When Christ walked upon the earth, he sat down with tax collectors, prostitutes, adulterers, murderers, and outcasts. He didn't look at the sin itself - he looked to the sinner and offered them eternal life through him!

We are all outcasts in one way or another. Some of us have features that are hard to look at, some of us don't speak as clearly as others, some of us are missing parts of our anatomy, some of us are less intelligent, some of us are more intelligent, some of us are very tall and some of us are very short. But we all have one thing in common - we are children of the King! We are created in his image!

When we are small, we are taught how to act when we become adults. The same is true for Christians. When we are new to Christianity (or not even familiar with it) we need guidance. First we need to be born. We need to be introduced to Christ at some point in our lives. For alot of us, it is from our physical birth. I can honestly say that God was always a part of my upbringing. In my book, I stated that there was never a time when I had not known God. For me, I've always known and always believed that Christ died on the cross for my sins and through his blood I am redeemed. Sometimes people ask me "when did you get saved" and I don't have an answer for them. The only way I can explain it to them is to ask them "when did you realize that your mother was, in fact, your mother".

I have committed my life (what's left of it, anyway) to sharing the Gospel of Jesus with all of creation - from my little laptop at my kitchen table in Piney Flats, Tennessee. Why? Because that is what we are told to do! We are told to preach the good news to all of creation! Men, women, children, murderers, adulterers, prostitutes and all the other assorted "sinners" out there. And guess what? I'm a sinner! God sees sin as sin - no matter what it is - if it's wrong - it's sin. His book is very clear on what is right and what is wrong. There are no lesser or greater sins - it all the same!

Likewise, it is not my place to judge anyone. That is GOD'S job! Do I? Of course I do - I'm human - but I'm working on it! Carol Burnett said it best in a line from the movie "The Four Seasons" - she was being told by her husband that she was "perfect" - her response to him was very simple ~ "when I am perfect I cease to exist". Truer words were never spoken! Only when God calls me home will I be perfect!

The bottom line is this: what ever people choose to do in their lives is between them and God. What I choose to do with my life is also between me and God (no one has the right to tell me I'm right or wrong - that is also God's job). I do what I am supposed to do - reach out and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God! Its not about where or when I should do it - it's not about picking the "right" audience for my message of hope to those who do not know it - it's all about Jesus! Its about what he would want me to do! He died on a cross for my sins and for that person who is a mass murderer and that woman who sleeps with everyone and everything, for that man who embezzled millions of dollars from his company, for that person who threw rubbish on the side of the road, for those men who flew planes into the World Trade Center, the children who took a shotgun to school and blew their classmates away and for you! He paid the price for ALL! What ever your sins are, ask for forgiveness and make a conscious effort to move forward from this point on! Share his word with others (even if it is only to share this link with others)...He loves you - love him back!